Alpha Academy
by TheLovelyAlphas
Summary: Welcome to Alpha Academy, where one hundred girls have been accepted to nurture their talents- but only one can graduate validictorian. Whoever wins will gain worldwide fame. Who will it be?
1. Dance to your own Beat

Terrywood, Pennslyvania

The Bohemian Chic Boutique

Thursday, July 22nd

1:16 p.m.

"Ivan-aaa!" Marina McRobins whined in her nasal, pained voice. Ivanna Windson rolled her eyes from the inside of her stall.  
"Marrr." Ivanna whined back in and identical voice. She heard Marina huff as she slammed her 125 pund self against the very weak white wooden door in the back of The Bohemian Chic.  
"When will you be done?" Marina whined again. Slamming her fists against the door. Fiesty and impatient, Marine could get really cranky really easily if Ivanna took her presicous time fitting into size two dresses. Or course, that could be based on the fact that Marina would never be able to fit in one.  
"Almost done." Ivanna said, sliding on the Jason Wu blue strapless gown she had eyed before. With little brass-and-black plate-thingys on the bottom, the dress screamed A-list perfect.  
"Could you get me the Jason Wu dress in a three, please?" Ivanna asked, throwing the dress over the top of the door. In a huff, she heard Marine storm away.  
Chuckling, Ivanna sat down on the bench next to her overlfowing bags from the other stores they had just finished combing through: Abrecrombie & Fitch to return the undersized clothing Marina had bought six days _after_ her Acai Berry Diet; Old Navy, of all places, just so Ivanna could rub her skinny Pilates butt in Marina's face as she leafed through the size two jeans; and Tiffany and Co. to buy matching charm bracelets- Marina had been purposely excluded from the rest of the group when they got them. After all, Marina wasn't the kind of person Ivanna liked to take to the mall; that was Katie, her fellow dancer and trusted beta. Besides her, there was Trish, the study-buddy, Mandy, the sleepover queen, and Georgia, the lowly wannabe who was Ivanna's personal boyfriend snatcher. Marina was the usual tag-along, who was good to have at the mall for only one reason- her fat butt made even Snooki's look small.  
"Back." Marina huffed as she threw the size three dress over the white door. Ivanna slid it on and smiled at herself. It was perfect.  
As she left the stall, now wearing her simple tee-shirt-and-jeans combo, she caught the eye of two B-List buddies entering the store: Trisha and Tammy.

"Hey." The two drawled as they passed by, heading directly for the clearance rack. Rolling her eyes, Ivanna pulled her AmEx out of her Coach purse and handed it to the cashier as she placed her Jason Wu dress on the counter.  
"Ooh, look at this!" Marina sighed as she took a little white cocktail dress off it's rack. It was short, barely down to the knees, and had what looked like pulled strings jamming up the left side, bunching it up and pulling down that side.  
"It looks like a bath towel." Ivanna scoffed, and watched as Marina slowly put it back on the rack.  
_Note to self: try it on the next time your in here. _Ivanna thought with a slight smirk. She took the bag and her card from the cashier and hurried outside, attempting to leave Marine behind.

"Where to next?" Marina asked, and Ivanna rolled her eyes. She had three bags dangling off of her arms, while Marina's chubby ones were covered thickly with the sleeves of her knitted cardigan. Such a reputation killer.

"Uh, the dump, so you can kick that old sweater for a- _hello hottie!_" Ivanna came to a halt as she stopped in front of one of her mom's favorite stores, Ann Taylor. The model in the mirror looked just like Ivanna, with her flawless tan skin, (we're talking _flawless_ here, babe. No pimples anywhere) long, silky black hair halfway down her back, muscular, long dancer legs, a curvy body, and thin arms. Iv-the-twin was wearing a black-and-gray wrap dress just like the one Ivanna had seen last year, during her trip in Paris. The dress was twenty bucks.

"Let's go home." Marina said, her gaze tight on Gap Kids' and their tacky cardigans.

"Fine." Ivanna said, pulling out her Blackberry from her purse. She had a missed call from her mom.

"What?" She asked, sending a quick text to her mom, telling her they were done. She dismissed her peevish mother's call and sat down on the wooden bench in front of Ann Taylor Loft.

"So?" Marina asked, jumpy. Ivanna had told her that all skinny girls were jumpy. "Did you hear-"

"No." Ivanna said sharply, cutting Marina off. She flipped her black ponytail over her shoulder and looked down the road for her family's black Hummer. As it came into view, Ivanna mentally prepared herself for whatever she was going to do next.

_Oh, man. What if my report card came? What if I failed? What if my mom found out I was slacking in dance because of my period, but thought I was being lazy? What if she read my last weight check and realized I was ten pounds too heavy for good tap dancing? What if she found out I grew a size? What if-_

"Iv?" Marina asked, waving a hand in Ivanna's face. "You comin' ?"

"Uh, you go ahead." Ivanna said, thinking. "I'll...I have somewhere I need to go." Ivanna's eyes drifted upward toward the upstairs of Gold's Gym, looking through Danceation's wraparound glass windows. Marina caught her gaze and nodded solemmly.

"I'll tell your mom." She said softly, as she hopped into the car. Ivanna snicked as the car thudded toward the ground as Marina clambered aboard.

"Bye." Ivanna said slowly as the car drove away. Once it was out of sight, she stood up quickly and hurried down the sidewalk.

A little out of things, Ivanna hurried past Tiffany's again, past the tacky retail stores, and right past the large front door's of Gold's Gym, headed only for her own personal heaven.

Swinging open the small glass door with the purple DANCEATION written on it in glitter, Ivanna hurried up the tightly squeezed stairs to the second floor, and opened up the main door into the studio lobby.

"Hi Ivanna." The receptionist, Kirsten, said with a smile. Her thin, pale face light up whenever she smiled, which was usualy whenever her boyfriend, Matt, came in, or when a star student, (namely, Ivanna) appeared in without warning.

"Hey." Ivanna grunted back, and hurried past the reception desk and into the locker rooms to change. Without even setting foot into the studio, she already felt pumped up and vibrant.

After hastily throwing on her pink, slimming leotard and silver tutu, Ivanna grabbed her iPod from the inside of her purse and hurried out.

Once she was in the studio, locked in all by herself, she felt alive again. As she pulled her iPod into the dock in the front of the room, she felt calm and relaxed. But once the first notes of "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz started up, she felt the rush on music overwhelm her, and there was nothing she could do about it but let it out.

_I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,_

_ saying "Ayyyooo! gotta let gooo!"_

_ I wanna celebrate and live my life,_

_ saying "ayyyyyooo! Baby lets goo"_

Ivanna lept into the air, throwin her hands over her head and feeling like she was Icarus, flying up into the air, except her wings weren't made of candles; they were made out of gold.

_I came to move, move, move, move_

_ get out the way of me and my crew, crew, crew, crew._

_ I came to the club so I'm gonna do do do do_

_ just what the - came to do do do do, yeah yeah_

Smiling brightly to herself, Ivanna felt the insane rush of wind as she spun around. Rap and Ballet were such a good combonation, but for Ivanna, it never ended at twirls and scissor kicks. She spun faster than the tasmanian devil on _So You Think You Can Dance_. She listened to the bells that hung off the edge of her tutu as she twirled; it sounded like appluase.

_I'm gonna take it all I_

_ I'm gonna be the last one standing _

_ 'cuz I I I_

"I need it, and aaayyy ayyy ayy." Came a shrill voice from the studio door. As Ivanna began to twirl slower, she noticed something. One the first spin, her instructor, Kayle, was coming through the door, her arms crossed over her chest, a Kira-Segwick smile on her identical face.

On the second twirl, as she began to slowly speed up, she saw her mother and father entering the room, huge smiles across their broad, tan faces. And on the third spin- wait, was that a _camera crew?_

"Ehmagawd." She said quickly, bringing her foot down, hard, on the ground to stop. Her mother, who was five-eleven with identical hair and skin, dove for her, enbracing her in a hug. Her father, who was six feet tall and one hundred pounds, beamed down at the two from a foot away.

"Mom? Are you alright?" Ivanna asked, helping her mother up. Her mother's mascara was running, but her plump red lips were pulled upward with joy.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine. Except you." She said, still looking happy. Ivanna backed away two steps, then looked behind her mother. Two camera crews, several other dance squad members, her grandmother, Kayle- it seemed like all of Terrywood was in the dance studio, right then and there.

"Mom?" Ivanna asked again, then notcied a piece of paper in her mother's hand. It was neatly folded, made of recycled material that resembled weak cardboard. Ivanna tore it from her mother's hands and opened it, her heart racing. She didn't have to read the letter, the header said enough. It was Alpha Academy, writte in twelve point font along the top of the page.

"Ehma-" Ivanna started, then started jumping up and down with joy. She lept into the air, kicking her feet out with utter flamboyance. As her father walked over to help her back down to Earth, Ivanna knew that it would only be temporary.

Going to Alpha Academy would send her to the stars.


	2. I was Born Dead

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

PAP No. 58

Monday, September 6th

11:52 a.m.

Tammi Mitchalka placed her face against the bubble-wrap like wall of the Personal Alpha Plane, or PAP, that she was flying in. As she pulled away, she ran her fingers across the bright pink kiss her lips had left behind. But just like her whole life had as the plane took off from the San Diego airport, the kiss faded away.

Tammi sighed and slumped against the egg-shaped chair in the back of the plane. For the past three hours, she had sat in a bubble-shaped plane as it flew, dangerously, over pointy mountains and, probably, very, _very_ deep lakes. She prayed for the fifth time that they were almost at Alpha Academy, then settled for yet another hand of calorie-laden cheese-flavored popcorn.

"I'm fat-free!" The bowl chirped at Tammi dipped her hand into the bowl. She scowed and pulled her hand out.

"I wish they made calorie-free food." She sighed, the turned to look out the window again, but instead caught something scarier- her own reflection.

Tammi Mitchalka was pretty, there was no doubt about it. With long, wavy blonde hair, perfectly pale skin, and big blue eyes, Tammi and Aly could have been twins seperated at birth- except they weren't. While Aly was a big-name pop star, Tammi was more low-line, rising to fame in the primetime drama _Born Dead_ when she was only ten. Four years later, she had become a main character and an Alpha to all.

Which, in the long run, gave way to Emmy nominations, (and wins,) some _People _drama, and, eventually, a nine-month vacation from prying paparatzzi at exotic Alpha Academy, where she could chill with her fellow Alphas for a change, free from acting, (what with her character in a coma until her return) and free, ultimatley, from her over-caring parents, who dressed her in layers in summer to prevent her from becoming, "girly."

Tammi rolled her eyes an adjusted her cami. She had bought a sequined cami and bootleg jeans to wear on her plane ride to Alphas, hoping that the outfit, similar to Hannah's on the cover of the _Pretty Little Liars _book, _Flawless_, was A-List attire.

"Probably not." Tammi sighed. Her biggest issue was how she spent her first ten years of life: trapped homeschooled in her house by her insane parents. When she was ten, her awesome aunt took her to a casting call, and, thank the Lord!, she was casted for _Born Dead._

At first, the whole ordeal didn't exactly fly so well with her parents. Both agreed, that, she could not:

-do a kissing scene until she was sixteen

-do a fight scene until she was fourteen

-do a kidnapping scene until she was thirteen

-do any scene involving R-rated actions until she was, at the youngest, twelve.

Thankfully, two years was all it took for Tammi to change her parents minds, let her open her boundaries, and, _voila, _instant Alpha.

But with a whole ten years wasted, Tammi had missed one crucial Alpha quality she cried over for years- friendship. Even though the tabloids rumored she had boyfriends, it was all lies. She really never hung out with her coworkers. Her on-screen boyfriend was a whole mystery to her. In all, Tammi was a sort of loser in her own right.

Clentching her fists, Tammi swore that she would change things from then on. Being given a chance, out of millions, to attend Alpha Academy was like a sign from God. She could wear high-end trends, some her parents would disapprove of. She could make friends, some to call besties, others more like christmas-card-list friends, ones you usually never talk to.

But it didn't matter how far her new freedom would go. Right now she had to focus on the present, the now. She pulled out her aPod, a iPod Touch with a gold glitter case and a pink-and-black "A" on the main screen. She unlocked it and dug her headphones out of her jean pocket, plugging them into the aPod as she turned on her songs. She put on her favorite, the _Born Dead_ theme song, and let the rough chords of the entrance somewhat soothe her.

_You cant let danger get in the way of life._

_ You cant let love get in the way of anything._

_ You most of all, top of it all cant let yourself go free._

_ You have to have, above it all, some boundaries._

Tammi tapped her foot against the steel bottom of the plane, not bothering to do anything else. She had taken lessons at dance schools, but it ended there. She stunk, and only for dance scenes did she had a double. She did her own stunts.

_If you were born dead you're already alive._

_ If you were born dead you have a suprise._

_ Everything you've ever thought was easy is now like hell._

_ If you were born dead._

Tammi jumped out of her chair, and, against her own desires, began to dance around like the fru-fru tutu girls in her dance classes. She let Paramore's lyrics rock her brain out, and as she jumped around like a little ballerina, she felt happy, for the first time in a long time. She was glad to not have her mom and dad anymore, watching her like hawks over their prey. She could be Tamara Mitchalka, the actress, the model, the Alpha, and not Tammi, the loser. That was the wrong girl.

"Ms. Mitchalka." A soft voice called from the cockpit. "We are now leaving the radio zone."

"The what?" Tammi asked as she slowed to a halt.

"The radio zone, as in, no cell phone service." The attendant sighed. Tammi nodded and raced over to her phone. Her five bars were slowly dwindling.

Dear everybody,

If you are reading this, dont bother to text me back. I'm slowly making my descent toward my future at Alpha Academy. Here I don't have to be the loser you always thought I was, wearing six layers of clothing in the summertime. Here, I can wear my school uniform and strut it out like I was always ment to be.

If you are still reading this, I just want to let you know that, although my part on my show has been halted, it is not gone. Izzy will come back out of her coma, but with a powerful vengance on Petra. Petra will lose, because, as soon as Izzy wakes up, Izzy will know exactly how the world turns. And she'll insure that it'll turn the other way.

"Ten seconds." The attendant said just as Tammi was wrapping up her message.

_Is this right? _She thought. _Does it say, "I'm better than you." Without really saying it?_

Tammi sighed and sent her message without signing it. As her bars shut down and the message sent, Tammi sighed and leaned back in her chair. She dropped her Dare into her lap and sighed. As the plane made her descent, she plugged her aPod's clear headphones back into her ears and let the last bits of the theme song rock her world one last time.

_Born Dead, your life isn't over._

_ Born Dead, your life is just halted._

_ Born Dead, at least your okay._

_ Becuase you'll be reborn dead again._


	3. Chance to Shine

Alpha Island Headquarters.

Irina Kay-Sau's office.

Monday, September 6th

12:05 p.m.

"Ms. Idvans." Irina said in her slow, chinese-accented drawl. "I see you missed the past two weeks of Beta-Be-Gone training to fully apply here."

"Actually, I have a good reason for that-" Chloe started, but Irina's hand cut her off.

"No exceptions." She said, then raised an eyebrow. "Unless, that is, you do have a good reason." She put her hand down and leaned forward. "Do tell me."

"I'd rather you'd see it." Chloe said, handing Irina something. It was a little robotic butterfly.

"How cute!" Irina said, clapping her hands. "I love it." She stopped clapping to accept the butterfly and put it on her desk.

"Now, do tell me what it is you wanted me to know." Irina said, leaning back. Chloe bit her lip as she racked her brain for ideas.

_I know, how about you wake up and look around you. I have more talent than your own daughters! _Chloe wanted to scream, but held it back.

Right now, Chloe Idvans, Beta-for-life, was standing in Irina Kay-Sau, Alpha Extrodinare's office, explaing to her why she cut her Beta-Be-Gone courses short: so she could fully attend Alpha Academy on the right grounds.

"I created that course for girls like you." Irina said, narrowing her gaze. "Not betas."

"So what your saying," Chloe asked, tapping her chin for effect. "Is that I am an Alpha?"

Irina smiled and shook her head. "Not quite."

Chlone whined. "How?"

"Well, for starters." Irina started, standing up to look out her window, out into the woman-made beach, the Joshua trees, the huge state-of-the-art buildings: everything Chloe would never see, as long as Renita saw fit. "Your not classified as an Alpha in my dictionary." Irina said, pulling a large, white book out of the bookshelf. It was the Merriam-Webster's Alpha Dicitonary.

"Puh-lease." Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes. "Any other reasons?"

Irina rose and eyebrow, then nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Chloe snapped her head back around. "What?"

Irina smiled, like a lion finishing off it's prey. "Well, let me see." Irina sat back in her chair and scratches at the edge of her eye. Smoky blue makeup climbs up her eyelid, making her brown eyes stand out from the rest of her pale face. "This, Beta-Be-Gone program..." Irina started, and Chloe sighed. Irina was making the Beta-Be-Gone program and Chloe sound like Lindsey Lohan and rehab.

"What about it?" Chloe asked, trying her hardest to keep her attitude at a minimum.

"You did...exceedingly well." Irina said, raising her eyebrows in shock. "Wow. Stright A's..." Irina put the paper down and ran her long fingers through her black-and-iris-streaked hair.

"That is, considering..."

"Considering the B's and C's of my classmates?" Chloe asked hopefully, and Irina chuckled.

"Hardly." She said, spinning around in her chair to look out her window.

"Oh, look how nice it is outside...and you'll never get to enjoy it." She sighed, turning her head around to smile at Chloe.

"But I-"

Irina held up her index finger, which was, in a way, the international signal for "shut up."

"No excuses." She said. As she dismissed Chloe, her black desk phone went off.

"You're bothering me." Irina said briskly. Her green eyes darkened and suddenly, all of Alpha Island went from a cool 72-degrees to ninety in two seconds flat.

"Yes. Alright. I'll have to...look into that." Irina slammed the phone into the box without saying good-bye.

"Can you belive it?" She asked, throwing her hands in the air. "Clooney over me. Clooney!" Irina's hands hit her desk with enough force to make a dent. "Clooney."

Chloe scoffed. "That's cold."

Irina nodded slowly. Her face, once cold, hard and granite-like, now looked about ten times softer, and the island slowly cooled down as it did so.

"Chloe..." she started slowly.

"Ye-yes?" Chloe asked, ready to bolt out of the room at a second's warning.

"Now that I have a spot on my island..." Irina said

"Yes..." Chloe continued, waving her hands around. "Your point?"

Irina laughed. "How would you like to take her place?"

Chloe stopped waving her hands around, and her jaw hit the floor.

"You are kidding, right?" She asked her, but Irina shook her head.

"No. I'm talking nine months of solitude on an island with alpha females." She said with a snicker, like Chloe was a boy. "Or, girls you could look up to."

Chloe scoweled. If anything, Irina was trying to make Alpha Island sound like a school for betas to feel bad.

"No." Chloe said sharply, then covered up her mouth with her hands. Irina rose an eyebrow in shocked response.

"Really?" She asked, and Chloe shook her head quickly, letting her blonde hair swivel around her face.

"No. No! I mean, yes!" She cried, and Irina smiled.

"Good. Here is a starter box." Irina said, pulling an extra starter kit from her filing cabinet. "I'll have a scedule ready for you tomorrow."

"Awesome." Chloe said, slowly taking the package from Irina.

"I have high expectations for you." Irina said slowly, not giving up the package.

"Under these circumstances, I can see why." Chloe said, trying to ease the tension. Irina slowly let go of the package, yet still held an iron grip on it.

"In one month, if you did not keep up your straight A's..." Irina ran a line underneath her jaw. "It's over."

Chloe gulped- loudly. "Al-alright." She stammered.

As Irina handed the kit over, she still kept an eyebrow raised. "I have faith in you." She said slowly. "Just, _une pequino._"

"A little." Chloe said softly. Irina nodded.

"You are going to a school with Alphas. You're going to be a little fish in a big pond." She said, probably reciting her recorded message for all the other girls. "I hope you do well." She dismissed Chloe with one wave of her hand.

Chloe slid out of her room before the double doors could cut off her head, but watched through the crack as Irina smirked.

The smirk was unfamilar, though. It showed how bad the road ahead would be.


	4. Where's the Welcoming Committee?

PAP Terminal

The Gold Carpet

12:13 p.m.

Monday, September 6th

As Ivanna stepped off of her PAP and onto the golden carpet, she already felt the rush of success.

She titered on her two-inch sapphire strap heels, and clutched the hem of her Jason Wu dress as she strutted down the carpet.

_Hey-loo? Paparatzzi? _She thought to herself, looking around. All she could see were girls hopping off PAP's and walking down their own mini-carpets.

"Wierd." Ivanna thought, and shivered a little. Either it was first-day nerves or a chill in the air; either way, she wished she had worn the lacey-yet-elegant cardigan Marina had bought her as a going-away present- something she'd never wear in her life.

"Welcome, Ivanna Windson." A female voice called from the terminal ceiling as Ivanna entered.

"Yo." She replied, and looked around. The terminal was your average train station, with a clear ticket booth to her left, large stone pillars in the front, and back, and a silver railway in front of her.

"Tickets?"

Ivanna jumped a little. Inside of the ticket booth was a hologram of a young lady- more or less Renita in ten years, with identical slightly tan skin, black-and-purple streaked hair, and a flat nose with full, pouty lips below them.

"Here." Ivanna said, handing the girl her PAP ticket. The girl smiled and ripped the tab off the end.

"Have a great day!" She said, and disappeared.

"Wierd." Ivanna said again, and walked through the turnstile. On the other side, two large black doors Ivanna hadn't seen before seperated the terminal from the outside world, or, the PAP station.

_Choooochooo_

Ivanna jumped again, just as a train whizzed by in a flash of colors. One by one, huge bubbly cars in multiple different colors stopped at different stands, each door entering into a solo compartment.

"Ivanna. Windson." The fem-bot's voice called from a car near the end. Ivanna pranced past girls in pantsuits and others in flashy skirts, until she reaced her car, which was an opaque white with a pink shimmer to it.

"Welcome." The car chirped as Ivanna stepped onto the clear steps and into the bubble. Once inside, everyting glowed like it was as transparent as the stairs had been, and someone had stuck a flashlight into it.

"Cool." Ivanna said under her breath as she sat down in the egg-shaped chair on the right wall. Across from her was an identical one.

Reaching over, Ivanna lightly touched a ferris wheel platter with mini chocolates on them, like the ones you usually could only find at Halloween- candies Ivanna would never outgrow. Holding a mini Mr. Goodbar in her hand, Ivanna felt like she had the world teetering at her fingertips.

"Welcome to Alpha Academy." The womanly-robotic voice said from hidden speakers in the ceiling of the train car.

"Alpha Island is a woman-made island 500 miles from Hong-Kong, Irina's home.

"The island is configured of two islands destroyed in tanker battles in the late 1800s, converted into one with a large inlet dipping into the center of the island, forming small penninsulas that house Irina's home, Residences, and the Main Campus.

"If you would proceed to look out to your right, you should see the large sculputre garden in the distance, along the jutted northern coast of the island, which, in the island's personal biosphere, is always a cool 72-degrees, along with the rest of Alpha Island." The voice snickered. "For now."

Ivanna's jaw dropped as twenty figures in pastel colors jutted out from the sandy ground. Clustered in bunches, the twirling sculptures looked like natural rocks- except they were green, blue and purple.

But just as the sculptures had appeared, they disappeared, like someone had clicked, "erase all."

"Coming up on your left is the private residence of Irina Kay-Sau, where she spends most of her precious time plotting- I mean, _planning_ extracurricular assignments for the students."

Ivanna gluped as she looked down the twisty bend. Two large gates hindered her view, give for the tiny stream and bridge behind them.

"As we round the bend, you will see the pink-sand beach to your right, modeled after Bermuda's magical beaches, the floral gardens, which houses the dance studio and poetry garden, and the zoo. On your left, you will see the Media House, the Athena Arts Building, which has gymnasiums and gathering halls, and the Pavilion.

"The Pavilion has places where students can gather for meals, boutiques including Irina's own Iyaka Boutique, and the Alpha House, which is a museum of everything Alpha."

"Ooh." Ivanna said, and the whole main campus lit up like Times Square on New Years. The huge advertisements for movies and designers turned into a greatest hits reel of- _Ivanna?_

There was her first video, which was of her dancing to "You Can't Stop the Beat" when she was six. Then her dancing a pa-de-deux with her mom when she was ten, her performance at Julliard last month, a grainy cell-phone video of her and Katie dancing to "Dynamite" just weeks before, and finally, her dance at the Regional Dance Compotion in NYC last summer, when she took home first place in Hip-hop and Modern dance.

"Amazing, isn't it?" The overhead voice cooed.

"Yeah." Ivanna said, her breath taken away. As the last bits of "My Chick Bad" from the Regionals disappeared, Irina's face filled the screen, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling.

"Welcome to Alpha Academy!" Her voice echoed around the campus. "I am very excited to have you here. I think that you all would fit very nicely into your classes, which have been nicely tailored to fit your interests

"That is all I have to say. Once you reach your houses, please take out your room keys and use them to open the doors to your new life. Your muses will take care of the rest." Irina winked, then her face disappeared, replaced by Island Update, a newsreel with Alpha Island news.

"As we leave the main campus, we will pass through the twin Star Theatres, where budding actresses and artists master their crafts."

"This that it?" Ivanna asked.

"No. Farther up the road is the Jungle and the Tree House, which is a mastery building for writers. However, the bubble train is not going up that far, and we are going to turn into the Residential area now."

As the train swerved onto the other track, Ivanna caught sight of the Pavilion's huge, monstorus wings, or bri soeli as the voice had called it. As they flapped, Ivanna swore she felt a cool breeze come over the island.

"Because Alpha Island is in it's own biosphere, no wind can reach it, thus preventing a cooling breeze. Althought the island temperature is based off of Irina's body temp, we still need something to keep it from overheating." The voice said, smug. "And this is where you get off."

Suddenly, the train screeched to a halt in the center of a courtyard. Twenty homes, all shaped like your average two-story house, were centered around the fountain and the train tracks, each with a winding walkway leading up to the front porch.

As Ivanna stepped off the train, she looked up at the sigh post in front of her. LISI HARRISON it read, in Irina's perfect cursive. Skipping along, Ivanna headed for the two-story brown-and-black house with gray shutters and a white porch on the front.

"Welcome!" The muse said, standing at the door. She had a huge smile on her face, her hands wrapped around the door. With long blonde hair and a yellow apron on, she looked like a little sun.

"Hi." Ivanna said, cheerfully, waving hello. She skipped through the door, and stood in the foyer, amazed.

To her right were two vanilla-colored couchs around a glass coffee table. Attached to the wall in the front was a flat-screen tv, that was set to TMZ. In the back, a circular table sat empty with six porclein dishes around a small pot of irises. To the right of the breakfast nook was a small hallway with a study room in the back; to the left, a kitchen seperated with a thin curtian.

Near the kitchen door was a hidden staircase, leading upstairs. Ivanna hurried up the stairs, and saw that to the left was a bedroom with five beds along the back, with walk-in closets in front of them. To the right was another bedroom with a locked door and a bathroom. As Ivanna walked along the glass top floor, she looked out the huge back window and out into the backyard, which overlooked the Pacific Ocean, and to the left, Hong Kong, and farther out, Irina's own personal isthmus.

"Ehmagawd." Ivanna said, hurrying across the hall and into the girl's bedroom. Three other girls were sitting on the beds.

"Heyyy." One girl said. She had spiky hair the color of cotton candy and skin the color of cream. The girl next to her, who looked more shy and timid, had a long blonde-and-brown ponytail instead of pink spikes. Other than that, the girls were identical, even down to their camis and capris.

"I'm Roza." The spiky pink haired girl said. "I have no set major but luh-uv to dance."

"Awesome." Ivanna said, mentally checking her off in her mind.

"I'm Tammi." The blonde girl said.

"Oh. My. God. As in, Tammi Mitchalka from _Born Dead_?" Tammi nodded.

"Cool." Ivanna said, hoping that the timid actress wasn't too mean.

"Hi." A voice squeaked from the doorway. Standin in the center was a slighty shorter girl with a faint tan, shaggy blonde hair, and bright green eyes. The girl scrunched up the sleeves of her lace eyelet cardican over her navy cami, and blushed.

"I'm gonna sit here." She said, jumping on the bed in front of the CHLOE wardrobe.

"Your name Chloe?" Ivanna asked, crossing her arms. The girl nodded.

"Business?"

Chloe blushed deeper. "Uh, nothing."

Ivanna raised an eyebrow, trying to appear as intimidating as Irina.

"I have no set major." Chloe sighed, and Ivanna laughed.

"Wow." She said, and plopped down on the bed in front of the IVANNA wardrobe.

"I'm here!"

The four girls lifted their heads to see who was in the doorway. With pin-straight black hair, a purple-and-black cheeta print dress with matching scarf, and purple lowlights dotting her perfect hair, the model in the doorway was pretty enough to be a Tyra-wannabe.

"Who are you?" Ivanna asked the figure. As she came into the darker room, she twisted her hip around in a pouty glance.

"My name is Rennn-eeee-taaa." She said, then threw herr head back and laughed. The four rolled their eyes.

"No, really." Ivanna said. The girl straightened her back and re-wrapped her scarf.

"My name is Renee Cawrlford." The girl said, lifting up her head and making a model pout. "I am a worldwide famous fashion designer for JCPenny."

The four girls erupted into laughter. Ivanna fell back in her bed and bounced as she laughed. When she looked up at Renee, she saw the girl's face almost in tears.

"Wow." Ivanna said, trying not to laugh. "JCPenny?"

Renee nodded, on the verge of tears. As Tammi stopped, she held up her hand.

"Waht, what do you do? Design clothes for six-year-olds?" The four girls erupted into laughter again, and Renee stomped her foot.

"Do _not_! I just so happen to have signed a deal with Victorias Secret the other day." Renee lifted up her head again. "So there."

"Wow." Roza said, her Ukranian accent slightly annoying. "So your a slut too?"

Ivanna's eyes bludged out of her head as she tried not to laugh. Chloe's face was puffed up and red from holding back laughs, and Tammi looked like her side was about to split. Roza, with a slight smug grin on her face, was stagnat.

"Just, shut up!" Renee screamed, stomping her foot. "You guys are total _bitches_!"

"Excuse me?"


	5. Life's a Beeoch

Lisi Harrison House

The Bedroom

Monday, September 6th

1:32 p.m.

"We are starting school off on the wrong foot here, girls." The muse, Charla, snapped. For the past half-hour she had been lecturing the girls on one of Alpha Island's biggest concerns- maturity. And after having walked in at the most awkward time- when the girls were insluting Renee for being a JCPenny designer- she had taken that as a good example to step things up.

"I'm giving you one warning." She reminded them. "This is not it, but it is close." She gritted her teeth together like a constipated walrus. "And let me tell you, I wish it was."

Tammi swallowed- hard. The whole room was quiet except for Renee's silent sobs coming in from the bathroom; no one dared to breath loudly.

"Please refrain yourselves from talking to Renee for the rest of the day." Charla sniffed. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and stormed down the stairs.

Once the front door had slammed shut, the girls exchanged glances.

"Okay, _that_ was freaky." Tammi said, and Ivanna snickered.

"Am I suppposed to be sorry or something?" She asked, and Roza chuckled.

"I'm not. That wannabe had it comin' to her the day she was born." Roza said, smiling widely, showing the silver caps on her back molars.

"I feel bad for her." Chloe sighed, and the three turned around to eye her suspisously.

"Are you really?" Ivanna asked. "She's such a loser."

Chloe smiled a little at the edges of her mouth. "I mean, I guess your right..." She said, then sighed.

"At least Irina won't care." She added, and Ivanna eyed her again.

"What do you mean?" Ivanna asked slowly.

"What she means," Tammi explained, "is that at least Irina is female, and an alpha, and partially understands. I mean, hopefully, once she knows what Renee does for a living." Tammi snickered.

"Hey, Tam." Ivanna added, pointing her chin. "Like the new look."

"The what?" Tammi asked, patting her ponytail. "Oh! My less-layers look." She smiled. "Thanks."

"Less...layers?" Roza asked.

"Yeah. Tammi's mom is hyper-protective and wants her to be clean or something, so that means no boyfriends and no skin showing."

Roza snickered. "Wow. And you...agree with her?"

Tammi shrugged. "Do I have a choice?"

The room grew quiet as Renee's sobs grew louder. A loud buzzing noise could be heard from the insides of their purses and pockets.

"We have a text." Ivanna said slowly as she pulled her aPod out of her pocket.

"It's from Irina." Tammi added.

"Oh god." Chloe gasped.

**Irina: **Meeting at 7 after supper. Anyone who does not come is expelled.

"That sounds...promising." Tammi said, smiling.

"How?" Roza asked, sounding slightly unnerved.

"I mean, it's probably a welcome speech...ish." Tammi said. "Oh god, who am I kidding?" She buried her head in her hands. "We're doomed."

Ivanna put her aPod in her pocket. "It's probably nothing."

"Don't be too sure." Chloe said. "It could be a lot of things."

"Maybe she's gonna expell us." Tammi said, nibbling on the edges of her fingernails.

"Maybe not." Ivanna snapped. "Guys your negativeity is ruining my focus."

"Well excuse me." Tammi snapped back.

As the room grew quiet, Renee's sobs quieted down, and the girls could hear the sound of someone barfing.

"Someones bulemic." Roza scoffed, and Ivanna snickered. Once Renee had quieted down, flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth, the girls sat on the edges of their beds, legs crossed, arms neatly folded in their laps.

"Well?" Ivanna asked as Renee re-entered the room.

"Don't you have sometihng to say to me?" Renee asked, holding back tears as she bit her bottom lip.

"Nope." Ivanna said, smiling.

"Ro-"

"Nope."

"Chl-"

"Nuh-uh."

"Tammi?" Renee asked, sounding desperate. Tammi tapped her chin, looking deep in thought.

"Hmm...no." She smiled.

"Why?" Renee sobbed.

"Yeah, why?" Ivanna asked softly, cocking her head. "_Why_ are you even here?"

As Renee's sobs grew harder, and she ran back into the bathroom to- probably- barf again, Tammi smiled wider. Ivanna looked over at her and winked, mouthing, _nice one_.

_Thanks._ Tammi mouthed back, twice as happy. And she ment it.


	6. Oh, that's not the Welcome Committee

Worldwide Gathering Hall

Row 58, Seat 7

Monday, September 6th

7:05 p.m.

Chloe tapped her foot and looked around the room as more and more girls filed in. The gathering hall, which was on the last floor of the Athena Building, was huge, almost three stories high and one story wide, with a circluar stage in the center and seats encompassing it, each section a different nation: United States, China, Canada, Russia, and Australia.

"Where is she?" Tammi hissed, and Chloe shrugged.

As the bright overhead red lights (they were seated in Canada- where Lisi Harrison was from) dimmed, Irina's four daughters, Renita, age seventeen, Kailani, age fourteen, and Maiya, age twelve, walked in from the twenty-sixth floor doors of the thirty-story building.

"Here comes the brigade." Chloe said under her breath as the three looked up at the crowd, then sat in the three gold chairs on the stage, facing the Lisi Harrisons.

"Ehmagawd." Ivanna said, swatting Chloe's arm. "They're looking right at us!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. Renita Kay-Sau and her two sisters were identical to their mother, with long, silky blue-black hair, pale, heart-shaped faces with almond-shaped brown eyes and infectious styles. The three had been famous since birth, but Renita, who was the definition of Alpha, was the brain and style behind Iyaka Boutique. She had traveled the world by the time she was seven and was on magazine covers with her mother since the day she was born. Everything about her shined, and having the chance to be her friend was like being crowned princess of the world.

Okay, but maybe not.

"Hello!" Boomed a voice from the center of the stage. Coming out of the huge globe-patterened hole in the ground was the tall, sleek Irina Kay-Sau herself, her eyes shaded by dark Gucci wraparound sunglasses, her lips pulled into a bright pink pout.

"Welcome to Alpha Academy!" Irina shouted, and the room erupted with appluse. She bowed, then gestured toward the one hundred students around the room.

"You have been selected, amoung millions, to attend this worldwide academy, and here you stand today, smiling proud.

"But of course, the smiles won't last forever. I have a suprise in store for you all." Rubbing her hands together like a mad scientist, the world outside rumbled with thunder.

"Only one girl can graduate valedictorian, of course." Irina smiled. "And that one girl will be the most well-rounded, the best educated, the best-dressed, and the most Alpha of them all." She stood up a little straighter. "I look at a room full of one hudred girls, each of them potentail winners. But there can be only one Alpha. Will it be you?

"At any time, for any reason, I will- and can- send someone home. It will be unexpected, but it will not be ordinary. Take it as a firsthand warning from me that good Alphas love the world around them." With her eyes glued to the Lisi Harrison's, she continued.

"I have nothing more to say." She said, then rose a finger as several girls stood up.

"Kidding." She smirked. "I would like to discuss rules."

The room groaned, and several muses hushed them as Irina began to drone on about rules and regulations and "easy passes" to stay on the island...for at least a half-hour.

"Ugh." Roza said, stretching in her seat and almost hitting a girl from the house next door in the head.

_Buzzzzz._

Chloe snapped awake as her aPod buzzed. By the looks on the four other girls, so had theirs.

**Renita: **Hey. Meet us at the Inlet at Alpha Point at exactly eleven o'clock. Bring your A-Game.

"Oh. My. God." Tammi gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth. Renita wanted to see _them._

_Bleep._

_ Buzz._

_ Blip-Blop._

"Oh." Ivanna sighed, when she heard two girls behind her squeal. By the sound of it, almost all of Alpha Academy had been asked to join the Trio that night.

"Oh I don't care!" Tammi screech-whispered. "This is amazing!"

Ivanna rolled her eyes. "That's making Julliard sound weak."

"Well, maybe." Tammi said. "But still!"

Chloe sighed. "They're not all that great, guys."

The four other Lisi Harrisons snapped their heads around to look at the wet blanket of the group sighing.

"Chloe, knock it off. Why must you be so pessimistic?" Ivanna snapped.

"Yeah, really." Roza and Tammi added.

"I'm not going either, if that's what your saying." Renee offered quiety. The four ignored her.

"Okay, you know what? Screw you Chloe." Tammi sniffed, and Ivanna snickered in agreement.

"Fine." Chloe said, and leaned abck in her chair. As Irina wrapped up her speech, and began her descent into the floor, her daughters turned around to look up at the girls, their eyes frozen for a moment on the Lisi Harrisons.

Smug grins were plastered on their faces.


	7. Meet the Trio

Alpha Inlet

Renita's Cove

Monday, September 6th

10:59 p.m.

"We're here!" Ivanna called out, waving her aPod over her head.

"Hello?" Tammi called out.

"Yo!" Roza screamed, her voice echoing throughout the cove. Water lapped up the shore, washing away rocks and sand, but not worries.

"What if this is a setup?" Tammi asked, shivering in the cold air.

"Nope."

The girls jump as a sudden voice from inside of the cove scared them. Stepping out of the shadows was a tall, thin, asian girl. Renita.

"Welcome." Renita said, smiling. Her perfect, straight teeth stood out in the darkness.

"Hello." Ivanna stammered, as if she was looking at her clone.

"I have brought you here for-"

"Oh, shut it." Roza said, throwing her hands up in the air.

Renita scowled. "Fine. Kailani. Maiya." Renita hissed, and two identical girls stepped out of the cove.

"Hello. My name is Renita, Alpha Extrodinare, fashion mongul, International Alpha, blahblahblah." Renita smiled. "I hope you were listening to what my mother had been talking about before, about how only one girl can graduate valedictorian at the end of this year, which would lead to them becoming the It girl, the one girl she'd always wanted to be, and the one every girl wants to be, correct?"

The three girls nodded, not sure of what Renita was trying to say.

"So you could guess that every girl would do whatever it would take to be the It girl, as cronicled in the It Girl novels. I would like to know something you did like that."

Ivanna bit her lip. "Like a sacrifice?"

Renita nodded solemmly.

_There was the dance recital, ten years ago._ Ivanna thought._ She was four. There was a solo, and either Ivanna or another girl, Shayla, could have the part. Shayla and Ivanna were best friends, but Ivanna wanted the part, she _needed _it. But Shayla go it._

_ Shortly before the recital, Ivanna bumped into Shayla in the locker room. Shayla was smug about having the part, and Ivanna was sad because, if she didn't get the solo, her mother wouldn't let her do dance again next year, and she had already told her she had gotten the solo._

_ So Ivanna jutted out her foot in a very fancy, dancer-ish manner, then began doing solo warmups. As Shayla withered on the floor, Ivanna ignored her, doing her best at the solo piece. By losing her best friend, Ivanna got the part._

"I hurt my bestfriend to get a solo. That girl moved away a month later." Ivanna said softly, holding back tears as she spoke.

"I broke up with my boyfriend when he tried to kiss me because I knew my mom wouldn't allow it." Tammi said, starting to cry herself.

"I was anorexic for a year." Roza sniffed.

Renita smiled. "Wow." Looking at the three, she raised an unexpectant eyebrow. "You're missing two."

"Loser and Wet Blanket stayed behind." Roza asnswered her. Renita nodded.

"Well, when you get back to your house, remind your roomates to tell us about whatever they did." Renita remind her. Roza nodded.

"Back to the It girl nonsense, I hope you know that I am that 'It girl' that my mother is looking for." Renita told them, her grin smug.

Ivanna's heart sank as Renita's last ten words sank into the recesses of her heart. Was Renita serious?

"Of course, my mother wouldn't have that, which means that whoever this "It Girl" is, she has to be exactly like me, a carbon-copy, a reflection. She has to be A-List perfect, full of perfect, well-roundedness, and nothing more than full achivement all around. Kailani, Maiya and I have brought it to ourselves to "help" our mother choose this girl."

"How?" Roza asked. Renita shot her a look out of the corner of her eye as she continued.

"By this, Kailani, Maiya and I will be performing routine "checks" through our mother's computer to decided on ourselves who this girl will be. Maybe it will be one of you- maybe it won't." Renita smirked.

"I don't get it..." Tammi said softly.

"What she means, dumb-ass, is that we're gonna hack our momma's computer to see who's got the perfect grades, the most diverse scedule, and the highest-ranking on our mother's percentile chart. We'll text you at the end of every day on where you stand in our momma's mind, but you will be in the dark about how we feel- which ultimatly is what will decided where you will end up come June twenty-first." Kailani snapped. "Okay?"

Tammi nodded slowly.

"Wait, wait, wait." Ivanna said, "So you're gonna hack your mom's computer, find out our grades, text them to us, but none of it really counts in the long run?"

Renita, Kailani, and Maiya nodded in unison.

"That's bull." Roza muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Renita asked. "I"m sorry, I don't speak bullshit."

"Exactly my point." Roza sniffed. "So this is dumb."

"You're dumb!" Maiya screeched. Renita and Kailani bore stares into her skull as she shrinked into the cave.

"Alright." She smirked. "I give you good luck in the future."

"Thanks." Ivann muttered. "Means a lot."

Tammi and Roza waited for another one of Kailani's retorts, but the girls had already creeped back into the cave.

Back at the Lisi Harrison House, Chloe and Renee were gossiping about nonsense that Chloe could care less about, like lastest fashions and how fake-designed jewlery on clothing was in. As if.

As the doors of the Lisi Harrison house creaked open, and the three missing girls crept upstairs, Chloe turned onto her side and hid under her covers, hoping that maybe they wouldn't reconize her in the dark.

"Loser!" Roza snapped at Renee. "What's your biggest sacrifice?"

Renee was silent for a few moments as she pondered. "Oh! Starting my job at JCPenny."

Roza made a slapping sound as she facepalmed herself. "Duh!"

Chloe sat in silence as Tammi and Ivanna hurried into the bathroom. Roza was quiet for a few moments until Chloe heard her texting someone on her aPod. Probably another student.

It wasn't like she was ratting Renee out or anything. Why would she do that?


	8. A new day is dawning?

Lisi Harrison House

The Bathroom

Tuesday, September 7th

6:49 a.m.

"That has to be the wierdest thing I've ever heard- next to jeggings, of course." Renee sighed, touching up the kohl-mole on her left cheek.

"So is that growth on your cheek." Ivanna sighed back, and Renee scoffed.

"Okay, so your comparing Renita's idea to my makeover?" Renee asked.

"Makeover?" Ivanna asked. "I thought that was real."

Renee frowned, and Chloe's "ha!" could be hear over the mass of noises throughout the house: the blender in the kitchen, the shower, Tammi's exasperated screams, and Ivanna's running sink water. To a person who grew up in a small town in a big house with only two other people, the condumdrum of noises was infuriating enough to stress her out.

"TAMMI!" Ivanna screamed. "SHUT UP!"

As the entire house grew silent, even for Charla's mixer, which had stopped the second Ivanna had opened her mouth. Seconds later, Charla's feet came pounding up the stairs, her face shot one long, hard look at Ivanna, and then she stormed away.

"What?" Tammi snapped, running into the bathroom. She had her silver bathrobe on, and her blonde-brown streaked hair was in a messy bun.

"Sorry." Ivanna said softly, and Tammi rose her finger. The nail was almost broken, and the entire finger itself looked like she had shoved it into a tiny hole.

But Tammi's face softened into a smile. "It's 'kay." She said, her voice as soft and sweet as her TV alter ego, Izzy. Which could only mean one thing- it wasn't "kay."

As Tammi turned around and stormed back to her room, Ivanna bit her lip nervously. The last thing she needed was the anger of a roomate to haunt her throughout her first day of school- total stress inducer.

"Breakfast!" Charla called from downstairs, as the five aPods in the house buzzed awake.

As Renee and Chloe darted into the bedroom, Ivanna laid a protective hand on her facial creams as she clicked her aPod's awaiting message: a gold letter with a scarlet "A" on it.

Once the letter opened, Ivanna saw her scedule, mapped out and ready to go.

**Breakfast** **8:15** **Breakfast Nook**

Begin your day with a breakfast designed to help you succed!

**Finance and Philosophy 9:00 Alpha Island Stock Exchange**

Put your money where your mouth is, because smart Alphas finish rich.

**Romance Languages 10:15 Floral Gardens**

Be a globe-trotting Alpha in Spanish, French and Italian.

**Protien Break 11:35 Health Food Court**

Revitalize your day with a personalize smoothie!

**Alpha History 101 11:50 Sculpture Garden**

Study the works of historical Alphas to support your own lifestyle.

**Hone It: For Dancers 12:05 Floral Gardens**

Master Your Craft

**Lunch 1:30 Banquet Hall**

Continue onward with your studies with the help of a predesigned lunch.

**World Cultures 2:05 The ****You****-knitted Nations**

Study the world's cultures (and fashions!) while designing some to represent where you came from.

**Spotlight Training 3:55 T.B.A**

Prepare yourself for talk shows, the red carpet, and paparatzzi, oh my!

**Social Networking** **4:50** **Melinda Gates Computer Lab**

Alphas are what keeps the internet running. Stand out from he crowd while discovering the true usage of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

**Yoga & Mediation 5:50 Mediation Hall**

Rewind after a long day of work for a complete hour of relaxation and universal oneness.

Ivanna put her aPod down and sucked in a breath. Charla called out for breakfast again, but nobody answered.

_Are they as nervous as I am?_ Ivanna thought, but shook her head. Renee would be stuck in Beta-designated classes with Chloe, Tammi would be in a whirlwind of AP hell, and Roza would probably be busy in her random, jittery classes like Gymnastics, or maybe Animal Kingdom.

"Ivanna? Breakfast!"

"Coming!" Ivanna called, and pushed her things into her mirror. She hurried into her bedroom, and pulled her uniform off of her bed- a champange colored blouse, a cream-colored open cardigan, and a green skirt with little gold leaf imprints on them. As Ivanna slid on her gold flats with oversized flowers on them, she heard Charla call her name out again.

"Ivanna! Your food's gettin' cold!"

"Coming!" Ivanna called out again. Turning ever so gracefully on her heel, she checked her relfection in her closet's mirror, and then quickly hurried out of the room, tugging her silver A bag off her bed on her way out the door.

"Yum!" Ivanna said happily, sitting down at the table. Charla had placed five porclein plates along the outer edge of the table, with her own plate in the center of a ridge in the middle on the other side. However, only three other seats were occupied- by the looks if it, Chloe was missing, along with Renee.

"Where's-" Ivanna started, then quickly shut up. By the death stares on Tammi and Roza's faces, Chloe and Renee were probably somewhere that involved last night's encounter with the Queen Bee.

"At the top of the tree with the Top Bannana." Roza whispered, looking out of the corner of her eye to see if Charla was nearby. She wasn't.

"What?" Ivanna hissed back.

Tammi ducked her head in front of Roza's and rolled her eyes. "They're with Renita, dumb-butt."

Ivanna snickered. "Dumbbutt."

"What?" Charla asked, walking in with a towel over her shoulder. Without asking again she motioned for Ivanna to sit in her seat.

As Ivanna slid into her seat, she looked down at her dish, which was a croissant with cream-cheese, strawberry yogurt, and orange juice. She didn't bother to look at the dead creature on Roza's dish or the bulemic pleasure on Tammi's. And Charla was on good grounds for losing unapparent weight with her airy pancakes. Ivanna rolled her eyes at the specticale and dug into her yogurt, shoving the cold substance into her mouth with such gusto, she wished that she had directed it for something more apporpriate- like Renita's face.

As Ivanna thought about it, she wished she hadn't. For years, she had fawned over the glossy images photographers took of the teen idol. With her amazing black-and-purple hair, soft brown almond-shaped eyes, skin on the border between tan and pale, and infactious styles with crazy designs only people like Lady Gaga would think up.

Plus, Renita also held in the palm of her glorious manicured hand the simple valditorian speech every girl at Alpha Academy wanted. To graduate at the top of the class with a group of girls who had been at the top of the class their whole lives was kinda like winning a trillion-dollar scolarship to Harvard, except scholarships weren't the kind of thing you compared to a trillion-dollar modeling, recording, straight-to-stardom pass.

"Ivanna?" Charla asked. "Is your breakfast okay?"

Ivanna scowled and looked down at her half-eaten pee yogurt and cold crossiant that tasted like sand. As she decided that Charla's voice was officaly the theme song of hell, she nodded.

"Great!" Ivanna said, and tore off a piece of her croissant and dipped it in the yogurt to show her enthusiasm.

Charla rose and eyebrow as Ivanna horked another spoonful of yogurt into the damp cave of her mouth. Charla turned away slowly, and got up to take the empty dishes into the kitchen.

"It's around 9 now girls." Charla called from the kitchen. "Time to hurry on out."

"Where are my books?" Roza screamed,a s she climbed up the stairs to her room.

"In the study room!" Tammi called, heading for the front door. Ivanna took her time getting up, stretching, peeling her purse off the back of the chair, walking into the study room at a snail-mail pace, picking her Greenroom binders and textbooks off of her own personal mahagony desk along the back wall, and then taking her good sweet time again as she headed back into the breakfast nook, out the front door, and out into the blazing, 85-degree sunlight.

As Ivanna hurried behind around ninety-nine other hurring girls, she took two steps back to enjoy the sunshine. Along the cobblestone street were huge bushes of thorny blueberry-looking things, as well as wooden mailboxes with bright pink _A_s on them.

As the heavy crowd of girls crossed the Jingu Bridge-styled walkway off of the Residental Island and onto the main campus, heads began to turn and voices began to soften. Three heads stuck out in the middle of the crowd, each one wearing their head in identical buns, wearing the same uniform, with the same purse slung over their shoulder, the same Greenroom binders clutched under their arms. Even thoguh the three girls looked like every other girl on campus, an air of roylaty emitted from them with intoxication- it was like poison.

And by the looks of it, that poison wasn't effecting Chloe and Renee too much.


	9. Things are not always what they seem

Marie Curie Science Labs & Lecture Halls

AP Modern Science

Tuesday, September 7th

12:05 p.m.

Chloe twirled a strand of her gold hair around the end of her Bic pen. As she nibbled on her eraser, she tried to drone out her teacher's blah-blah-blahing about Physical Attributes of an eggplant or something, like Renita had told her. Accourding to her, learning things your own way was the best way to go.

But how could she belive a girl who's mother tried to get her to take dumbo Beta courses?

"Ms. Idvans?" Professor Madrie asked. The notes on her board were probably something about pulp and seeds and reproduction or something. And by the little bits Chloe could remember, the question had something to do with how they were all connected.

"Uh, because seeds hold the cells needed to house and embryo during the stages of reproduction?" Chloe asked, adding a perky little smile at the end. Professor Madrie smiled back, but shook her head.

"Not quite. Leeanne?" She asked, pointing toward a frizzy haired girl in the back.

As Leanne's voice droned on, Chloe tried to concentrate on zoning out again. It was a little easy, but the part about getting everything out of your head and just falling asleep wasn't. With Professor Madrie jumping up and down and cheering every five seconds, Chloe snapped awake with a jolt of energy, scribbled down the latest set of notes, and then fell back asleep, like nothing ever happened- at least, thats what she was trying to do.

"Okay, so, now you can split up into pairs to discuss the homework together, and then start it _on your own._" Professor Madrie narrowed her eyes at Chloe.

As Professor Madrie turned her back around and headed into her office, Chloe took the paper and shrugged the idea of doing homework then out of her mind, focusing on exactly what Renita taught her. She said it would boost her reputation ten fold- or, something like that.

"_Pst_! _Chloe_!"

Chloe snapped her head up and looked around.

"_Over here_!"

Chloe twirled her head around, and looked at the girl sitting behind her. With her sleek black-and-purple hair pulled into two black bun pigtails, her outfit sitting on her like it was made for her, and her skin impeckably flawless, Maiya Kay-Sau looked like an Anime character.

"Hey!" She said,smiling widely. Like her mother, her teeth were perfectly clean.

"Hey." Chloe said groggily. She felt tired and weak- was this what Renita wanted her to do?

"You wanna do the homework together?" Maiya asked, and Chloe snapped awake. Unlike the playful, childish voice Renita had used when she was talking to Chloe that morning, Maiya's perky, fun laugh sounded almost geniune, give for the fake laugh she always added at the end of her sentecnes.

"Uh, sure." Chloe asked. As Maiya began to speed through the worksheet. Chloe looked her over again, and was sure about what she thought.

The Trio was harsh and mean, accourding to the press. Renita was a hardworking designer _and_ model, who both designed _and _modeled for her mother's own Iyaka Boutique.

The middle child, Kailani, was just as talented, with a perfect imagination to write award-winning novels, and a hand to draw figures only she could think up- like her sister and clothing.

But Maiya was different. She dressed in what Renita designed, read what Kailani wrote, and according to the press, she was dumb and talentless- the runt of the litter.

But Chloe could tell that wasn't true. Maiya did her sisters hair, made designs for Iyaka Boutique, scribbled pictures for her sister, wrote rought drafts that were Newberry-worthy, but most of all, had an I.Q. of around 200 that had somehow gotten her in the same AP Modern Science class as Chloe, who had an I.Q of ten.

"Uh, Maiya?" Chloe asked. Maiya's head perked up instantly, her buns not even moving.

"Ya?" She asked, smiling widely. She had a slight gap between her front two teeth.

"Uh, can you slow down a bit?" Chloe asked, biting her lip. Maiya laughed, and went back to speed-reading the worksheet.

"Okay, class time is up." Professer Madrie said, sighing as she stared longingly at Maiya's black hair. If there was one thing Chloe hated about how Maiya was in every single one of her classes, was that because she was so darn _gorgeous, _even grown women fawned over her intellegence and beauty.

_Drrrrrrrring-dinnnng._

"Class, dismissed." Professor Madrie sighed, a slight smile on her face. Chloe turned around, and instead of Professor Madrie's gaze being caught on Maiya's face, it was fixated on the microscopic picture of Professor Madrie's boyfriend, some French astronomer who wasn't _that _cute.

"Come on, Chloe!" Maiya called from the doorway. About fifteen other heads swiveled around to look at the blonde-haired, pale-skinned girl in the front of the room who gazed at the wall and zoned out in the middle of Professorr Madrie's lectures. As they began to draw up rumors that Chloe was a beta in an Alpha world, like it really was, Chloe waved to Maiya, and hurriedly gathered up her things.

_Just keep walking. Just keep walking. _Chloe thought to herself as she hurried over to where Maiya was standing.

"I'm hungry!" Maiya's friend said, and Maiya laughed.

"Me too." She replied, smiling. She looked over at Chloe.

"Hey, you wanna join us for lunch at Cafe Crème Glacée?" Maiya asked. Chloe's eyes rocketed skyward the second her sentence ended. The IceCream Cafe, as it was called in America, was one of Irina's spinoff cafes, with cute anime designs and cottage-designed reastuarants.

"Uh, sure!" Chloe said, smiling widely. The identical look on Maiya's face was genuine.

"Cool! Oh, and we're meeting Renita and Kailnai at Iyaka Boutique later on!" Maiya said, but then her face fell, her eyes sad and worried. "Unless you don't want to..."

"No, no! It's okay!" Chloe said, smiling even wider. Maiya's face light up light an over-powered Christmas tree, then she jumped up and down like she had just had twenty moccachinos in a row.

"Yay!" she said, clapping her hands together. She turned around and motioned for Chloe and her friend- who's name was something like Ivvie- to follow her out of the building.

At Cafe Crème Glacée, Chloe, Maiya and Maiya's uber-quiet Japanese friend Ivvie sat down at one of the ten wooden tables. The restaurant was shaped like a little log cabin on the outside, and on the inside, little anime characters jumped around on the walls. As a waitress, a tall thin girl around the age of twenty, took their orders, Chloe looked around for any notion that Renita or Kailani was nearby. Luckily, they weren't.

"So I got Tom's numer but he never texted back so I found Dav's but then _he _never called back and now I'm sad." Maiya said, and Ivvie gave her a big hug.

"It'll be alright." Ivvie said, and Chloe reached over to pat Maiya's hand supportively.

_Ding!_

"It's my aPod..." Chloe said softly, and reached into her silver purse to pull it out.

Dear Chloe,

Blackberries are Red, aPods are gold, and Chloe's face is gonna be as blue as a blueberry if she eats that ice cream!

Love, i

P.S. I heard Betas eat a loooot of ice cream...something to do with upset?

"Ohmigod." Chloe said, her breath leaving her in one failed swoop. Was Irina texting her?

"Here's your Creme Glacee du Chocolate, Mademoiselle." The waitress said as she placed the cup of ice cream in front of Chloe. Chloe took her tiny spoon and took a little taste of it.

Sure, it was chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and a waffle, but it wasn't poison. That is, until a foul liquid creeped down her throat like liquid acid, reached her stomace and then-

_BARF!_


	10. Tea anyone?

Living Area

Tuesday, September 7th

4:18 p.m.

"I feel so bad for Chloe."

"I don't."

Ivanna and Tammi were sitting in the living area of the Lisi Harrison house, right in the middle of their ninth period, waiting for Chloe's barfing to stop so they could go back to their usual rotines.

"Where's Roza?" Ivanna asked.

Tammi shrugged. "Probably in class, like everyone else."

Ivanna bit her lip in crossed her legs back and forth. She looked at the mug of HoCho in Tammi's hands, then down at her own half-drank up of green tea.

"I'm going to the health food court to get Chloe some Antacid Tea." Ivanna said, standing up and brushing the hem of her skirt nervously.

"Good idea." Tammi said, a little out of sorts. As Ivanna put on her cardigan and hurried out the door, she stopped and looked around the room.

"Where's Charla?" Ivanna asked, and Tammi shrugged.

"No idea." She said, holding the white mug up to her pink glossed lips. "Probably out to get medicine or something."

Ivanna bit her lip and looked back out the door to see if anyone was outside. The chance of a student skipping class was two in one-hundred- the two being Ivanna and Tammi. She shrugged it off and hurried out the door.

As Ivanna hurried down the bush-lined walkway to the street, a cold breeze kicked up and smacked Ivanna in the face with a heavy force of coldness. Tress shivered in the wind and several stragglers hurring from class to class as the high-pitched _ding-ding _of the bell echoed throughout the island.

"Hey, Ivanna!"

Ivanna twirled her head around to see Trudy, a slightly pudgy girl from her World Cultures class running- no, hobbling- down the main road toward her.

"Hi." Ivanna said softly, looking around for a quick escape to the Health Food Court.

"Where were you?" Trudy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"None of your business." Ivanna huffed. "House stuff."

"Oh." Trudy said softly. "Okay."

Ivanna looked over at Trudy through the corner of her eye. Her puffy face had a huge zit on the chin, her thin eyes set deep into her face.

"I"m gonna go to class now..." Trudy said softly, backing away. "See you around."

"Bye." Ivanna huffed, pushing past Trudy and headed down Takestia Street to the main campus.

The main campus of Alpha Island looked like a cross between Times Square and the inside of a Forever 21 store- it was all glass, but at night the bright lighted outlines of the buildings could be seen from miles away.

Besides that, each building was different, with the Athena building, a tall, sleek, fully glass building with windows that showed some rooms, others blocked with huge advertisements and banners.

The Music Pyramid, which was a huge triangular building, was a deep fusica, with a clear glass music note right in the center, which showed the different activites that went on inside, ranging from recording to dance classes.

But in the center of it all was the Pavilion. With bris solei, wich opened and closed depending on amont of sunlight, the Pavilion was one sleek eco-friendly building.

On the inside, the entire place sparkeled. Glass windows gleamed with the reflections of the sun as girls fawned over the outifts in the window, ranging from skin-tight jeans in Forever 21 to kawaii outfits in Iyaka Boutique. The Health Food Court sat inside of a glassed-in greenhouse-inspired room, and the Banquet Hall sat, empty, down the hall and one floor up.

"Ivanna!"

Ivanna ignored more pestering as she barged through the doors of the Pavilion, and headed straight for the Heath Food Court. The automatice doors swung open, and several heads turned to see who the latest entry was.

"One Herbal Tummy Tea please." Ivanna said to the barista. She hurried into the back, and returned minutes later with a paper cup of the Tummy Tea.

"Thanks." Ivanna said, sliding her student I.D. card through the credit-card slot and signing her name. She hurried as fast as she could back to the residental island, landing herself on the Lisi Harrison house doorstep before she could take a breath.

"Chloe?" Ivanna called, shutting the front door behind her. "I got tea!"

"Up here." Chloe's voice said groggily, like she had been gurgling oil for the past hour.

Taking one quick "hows-she-doing?" glance at Tammi, Ivanna slowly tip-toed her way through the living area, around the stairwell and up the stairs, across the hall and into the bathroom, where Chloe was still puking into the toilet.

"Oh, God!" Ivanna screamed, taking two steps back. "What did you eat?"

"Ice cream." Chloe said nervously, then barfed into the toilet again. Ivanna threw her hand up to her mouth and puffed her cheeks out, like she was going to barf too.

"Iv, so sorry." Chloe said, walking over to the medicine cabinet across from the door, opening it up, and pulling the pink bottle of Pepto-Bismol out. Chloe popped the top open, filled the little cup, threw her head back and sighed as she swallowed it.

"How much of that have you had?" Ivanna asked as Chloe cleaned the cup.

"Three or four times." Chloe said, shrugging.

"Woah." Ivanna said, taking two steps back.

"Yeah..." Chloe said, and hiccuped.

An eerie silence fell over the house as Chloe started to clean up the bathroom. She kept hiccuping, and Tammi occasionally muted the T.V. downstairs, but other than that, the entire house sounded like everybody had died.

"Here's some Tummy Tea from the food court." Ivanna said, as she helped Chloe carry her garbage pail down the stairs and into the living area.

"Dont sit next to me!" Tammi screeched, putting her mug on the coffee table and monkey-jumping onto the top of the couch. She sat like a cat on the top, and when Chloe sat down in front of her, she snagged the pillow out from underneath her and bopped her in the head with it.

"Ow!" Chloe said, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "That hurt!"

"Did not." Tammi said, rolling her eyes and snickering.

"Guys, stop it." Ivanna said, holding up her hand, but it was too late. Chloe had pulled another throw pillow off of the couch and slammed it against Tammi's ponytail, sending her off the couch and down onto the floor.

"Ow!" Tammi screeched. She got up, and slammed the pillow against the side of Chloe's head, knocking the wind out of her and sending her onto the other couch face-first.

"Backstab!" Chloe screamed, jumping onto the couch, ready to land on Tammi with one-hudred-and-five pounds of fury.

"Don't!" Tammi screamed, a slight laugh in her voice. Just as Chloe was about to jump, Ivanna grabbed her around the neck and pulled her away.

"Stop it!" Chloe laughed, flailing about with her hands. "Stop!"

"No!" Ivanna growled, throwing her onto the couch with a heave.

"Uncle!" Chloe cried, throwing her hands up behind her back and waving them around.

"Agreed!" Tammi cried, getting up from the floor. Her blonde ponytial was undoing itself, and her skirt was blown up.

"Tammi..." Ivanna said, then started to laugh.

"What?" Tammi asked, redoing her ponytail and fixing her skirt.

"Nothing." Ivanna answered, shaking her head.

As Chloe got up from the couch, she hobbled over to her garbage can and puked in it again. Ivanna dry-heaved and hurried for the door, checking her time to see if she could catch her next class.

"I'm gonna go now..." Ivanna said, peering through the window behind the television to see if anyone was outside. She pulled her cardigan and her purse off the coat hanger, and opened the door when the person on the other side made her want to cry out in fear.

It was Kailani, with her aPod and a pen in her hand.


	11. We expected better

Lisi Harrison House

The Bedroom

Tuesday, September 7th

11:42 p.m.

"I'm so scared." Roza said, shaking a little. Eight hours ago, Kailani- Renita's personal assistant and beta- and come to the Lisi Harrison house to remind the girls that every evening at twelve, an Alpha Update would be sent to their aPod. In the update were their current standings in the soroiety takeover, as well as their current grades, friendship ties, and house levels.

"Why?" Chloe said, stretching out her leg. She had met the Trio six years ago on a full-paid trip to the Bahamas with Maiya. Sure, it had been a disaster, but she had learned a thing or two about the girls, most of them useful.

"I'm not." Tammi said, running her fingers through her blonde hair. At the moment, that was only a half-lie, because she was half-nervous, and half-excited.

_Ding!_

"Ehmagawd." Ivanna gasped, pulling her aPod out of it's charging dock without thinking. The little speech bubble that had popped up was a perfect orb, with a pink shimmer to it.

"It's from...Trio1-8-7..." Ivanna said softly. "Who's that?"

"It means Trio homicide." Tammi sighed. "Episode Twenty-Eight: _Honey-cidal_."

_Ding!_

_ Ding!_

_ Ding!_

_ Ding!_

As the four other aPods chirped with a new message, the girls sat, paralyzed, on their beds and on the floor, holding their aPods in the palm of their hands like it was an atomic bomb, and the only way to diffuse it would be to open the dreaded Trio Homicide message.

Dear Tammi,

ALPHA Track: Actress

Current Grade Average: A-

Percentile: 62nd

We expected better, Ms. Izzy.

"This is...homicide!" Tammi cried, on the verge of tears.

"What Percentile are you in, Roza?" Ivanna chirped, feeling slighty upbeat herself.

"Nintey-eight." Roza sighed, slumping against the glass backboard of her bed. The four other girls in their house swiveled around.

As the room grew full of the girl's silent brooding, the only real sound you could hear was Renee's short, gasped sobs as she cried into her pewter hankerchief.

"Renee?" Tammi asked, swivling around on her bed. "What's wrong?"

The room was silent, and Renee kept shaking her head back and forth, trying to keep whatever secret was making her cry from them.

"Okay." Tammi sighed, and turned back around to glare at Roza again.

_Roza!_ She screamed in her head. _Of all the people in the world, they picked Roza, the all-around ecclectic student to be the 98__th __Girl in the list- probably behind Renita herself!_

Tammi ground her teeth together. She was furious. If this was where she stood, why wasn't she at the top? Why?

Still grinding her teeth, Tammi pulled her aPod out of it's dock and stormed out of the room, down the stairs, out the back door, and toward the forest. She made a sharp left, heading for the ocean, and stopped at the edge, keeping a vigilant ear out for any house mom who might be looking for them.

When the coast was clear, Tammi shot a quick message out to Renita.

**Tammi: **I demand an explaination for my report.

Tammi stomped her foot and waited impatiently for Renita to text back. When her aPod _ding-_ed, she hasitly pulled it out of her pocket. But it wasn't just Renita who had texted back.

**Kailani: **No can do.

**Maiya: **Serious-leh? What's not to understand?

**Renita: We've already sent a referral to Irina.**

Tammi's heart began to race as she stormed back toward the Lisi Harrison House, but stopped at the back door. She flung herself onto one of the sparkling silver Aderondack chairs. She pulled her aPod out of her pocket and tried her best to Jailbreak it like she had done to her iPod Touch back home. After an hour of waiting for it to unload, she hasity opened up the newly recieved NotesToRemember app and hurriedly placed in a few notes of her own.

A.W (Alpha Wishes)

_AW No. 1: To stay at Alpha Academy._

_ AW No. 2: To win over Renita's trust._

_ AW No. 3: Crush Roza._

_ AW No. 4: To be the best._

As soon as Tammi had saved her AlphaWishes and shut down her aPod, she took a deep breath and slowly walked back into the Lisi Harrison house. She had stormed out in a fit of rage, but she was going to walk back into the bedroom a little more calmer. She envisioned herself onstage at graduation, holding a gold diploma in her hand as she happily accepted her valedictorian speech. She would walk off-stage, then enter the sleek white stretch Hummer Irina would have waiting for her. She climb aboard and find her only real friends, the cast of _Born Dead_, sitting in the back with bottles of Perrier and bowls of candies. She sit down across from them and try to relive the excitement of Alpha Academy. As the televisions would flick onboard the car, she would see herself on every channel, replaying her speech over and over like it was the president's ingauoration. She'd be driven to the PAP station and each of her friend would go aboard hers. They'd fly back out to New York in a half-hour flat, and there she'd see her mother, wearing a spagetti-strap tank with Daisy Dukes, and her father in his work clothes. Her producer would be right behind them, and behind him would be crowds and crowds of paparatzzi. But this time she'd be prepared because then she'd know exactly how to approach paparatzzi. She'd hurry out of their way, back into another one of Irina's stretch Hummers. They'd drive back out to Tarrytown (Tammi's hometown) and there, she could look back into the eyes of people she had once tried to make her friends and say, "It's too late now." She's turn down every boy's request to go to the Summer Dance with her, but then, she'd accept one ugly boy's, and ditch him at the last second to go to the summer premire party of _Born Dead._ She break hearts and make new friendships faster than you could say "Alpha." She'd be _the_ Alpha. And Roza would be sitting at home, curled up on her couch, crying and watching as a lowly actress with heavly-proctive parents won the prestigous Alpha award for all-around best Alpha. She's cry as Tammi won Oscars and Emmys for every preformace. She'd cry as Tammi chose Ivanna and Chloe as her backups for everything. And she'd cry as Tammi made Renee her own personal designer.

"Roza!"

"I can't belive you!"

Tammi slowly made her way up the stairs. Her yoga teacher and once told her that if you enter a room full of cranky people very calm and chill, then the other people in the room will become calmer and will slowly relax and be "chill."

"Roza, you _bitch_!"

Tammi stepped into the bedroom as lightly as she could, and sat down on the edge of her bed, facing her closet. She took two deep breaths and looked over at Roza, trying to make her eyes as accusant as the girl's voices sounded.

But by the looks on the girl's faces, it wasn't because she was on the 98th percentile.

"What's going on?" Tammi asked, standing up as fast as she could and running over to where all the girls were screaming at Roza.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the girls all grew quiet and looked at Tammi. Their eyes held no account of accusation. Instead, they were firmly set on Renee's crying face.

"She...told them!" Renee cried. "About me!"


	12. Dance to Impress

Floral Gardens

Dance Studio

Wednesday, September 8th

12:15 p.m.

"Okay girls! Today we are going to introduce our latest student in to our class. Please welcome Roza Iddosalmonaz!"

The monotonus clapping of the dances ricoched throughout the dance studio and Roza smiled her wide, faux-toothy grin at the dancers. Her face was full of deict and lies, and it was disgusting to look at.

"Roza, please take a nice stand next to Ivanna, please." The instructor, Tallaluhla, barked. She clapped her hands twice, and the bangly gold bracelets on her arms jingled.

"Instumental. Upbeat tempo." Tallaluhla barked, and as the music blared on, she burst into a series of jumps, leaps, and pencil twirls. As Ivanna engrained the moves to memory, she left some space of her own.

As the music slowed to a stop, Tallaluhla dropped down to the ground in the greatest drop-and-recover Ivanna had ever seen an older woman do. As she took two steps back. Lula- as Ivanna was going to think of her now- stopped.

"This time without me." She panted, and snapped her fingers. The music blasted on again, and Ivanna felt it slide into her blood like medicine in an IV strap. She twirled out onto the floor with deep precision, and followed along Lula's preformace was as much accuracy as a sniper. But instead of the longer spins, and twirled to the ground several times, other times widening her arms out, trying to let the warm sun reach down on her like spotlights from above. But when the music ended, and the other girls drop-and-recovered, Ivanna dropped, recovered, and spun like a top in a hurricane.

When she finished, she bowed to her classmates. The look on Lula's face was smug.

"Replay Ivanna!" Lula snapped, and a true-to-life holla-gram of Ivanna popped out of nowhere. Ivanna's eyes widened, and the _oohs_ and _aahs_ of her classmates as they watched her preformace fueled her up faster than a Monster energy drink.

"Any thoughts?" Lula asked, pointing to a blonde Russian ballet dancer named Charline.

"Her performance was...good." Charline said, slightly smiling.

"And her style?" Lula asked, chin-pointing toward Roza.

"Ridiculously insulting." Roza scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "She took your perfectly-perfect routine and buthchered it."

"Agreed." Lula sighed. "I expected better."

_I expected better._

Those words rang in her ears like the same ones Renita had texted last night. And that wasn't just it, but apparently so did Lula.

"Playback Roza." Lula said, more upbeat than she had when she demanded she was Ivanna dance again. Ivanna's heart sank as she watched the six oblivious students fawn over the female-dawg's dance routine. It was robotic, a mimicry, more insulting to dance than Lula had thought Ivanna's was. And as Lula demanded that the girls keep working on thr routine, even through lunch, Ivanna held back her anger.

"Watch meh." Roza said, winking at Ivanna. She threw her hands above her head and slowly began to spin as the music slowly started. She spun faster as the music grew faster, and whent he beat dropped, so did she.

Suddenly, the music blast out into a burst of modern funk, and Roza spun, twirled, and leaped more times than a ballet dancer on hot coals. She threw her hands in the air and prance-spun in a circle as the chorus groped, then burst back into a classical-meets-hip-hop hybrid of dance as the song continued. And during the exposition of the song, as it hit it's last note high, she dropped to the ground and stayed their, only coming back up when the music was over.

"Woah." Modern-dance freak Madria clapped her hands enthusiastically, but Ivanna frowned. It was disgusting to watch the female-dawg do anything she did better.

"How about you try?" Roza asked, cocking her chin toward Ivanna.

"Go for it, Iv!" Charline smiled. "Maybe it was just nerves."

Ivanna smiled warmly at Charline, and shrugged.

"I guess so." She said, and clapped her hands twice. The music started on, and Ivanna put her hands above her head and slowly spun like a ballerina in a music box. As the music grew faster and faster, so did Ivanna, and when it stopped, she hit the floor.

"Wow!"

The music started back up, faster than last time, and Ivanna hurried back onto her performace. She threw her foot out and spun back to it, keeping one foot on the ground while her other foot hovered paralle to the ground. And when the chorus started, she went back to the beginning of the dance, slowly spinning, dropping, and starting back up again. Dance made her feel like Superwoman: like a Wonder Woman with dance shoes.

"Cool!"

Ivanna looked out of the corner of her eye, and Charline was trying out the paralell dance leg herself. Roza was on the other side of the room, hurring up the music.

"" The music whined, and Ivanna kept going. She didn't speed up like she knew Roza had wanted her too. Instead, she kept the tempo even, like her temper.

"." The song sqealed, and when it ended, instead of dropping, Ivanna was slowly turning, but she felt her foot graze by something. What was it?

"Oh my god!"

"Ivanna, your foot!"

Ivanna looked down to see that her ballet shoe was red. _Red?_

"Ivanna, you're bleeding!"

_Bleeding?_

Ivanna stopped to look down at her foot. Her big toe had been cut by a piece of scrap metal exactly where Ivanna would have been, exactly if she had followed the routine instead of going fast and going the other way.

_Roza._

As Charline hurried over with the First-Aid kit, Roza crawled down the stairway on the other side of the room, down to the locker rooms. And Ivanna mumbled on about how badly she was going to get it if Roza hurt another Lisi Harrison.

"I've texted Renita, and she's contacted Irina." Charline smiled. "Their coming by to help you."

Ivanna frowned. _Renita. Perfect._


	13. Isn't it sad?

Cafe Creme Glace

Table 9

Wednesday, September 8th

1:46 p.m.

Chloe sat, very smug and prim, with Maiya and Kailani at their own personal table in the front of the room. Each had a plate of haricots épicée chili with a glass of eau mousseux. Okay, so it was Chili and Perrier, but to Chloe, ordering American foods in French with the two coolest girls in the world, all three wearing the same pewter miniskirt with a shimmering copper cami and sleek silver cardigan, topped off with their hair in ballerina buns and copper ballet flats, was like being crowned Queen Bee.

But Chloe knew that she wasn't Queen Bee, Renita was.

"So anyway, I was talking to her and she's like, 'who's he?' But i know she's lying 'cuz she stole Patrick too. I hate her." Kailani frowned. "Life sucks."

Chloe shrugged and took another sip of her sparking water.

"Est desserts, Madamoiselles?" The waitress asked. Maiya nodded.

"Crêpes aux fruits, avec votre 'dur crème glacée' garnie de pacane, s'il vous plaît." Maiya ordered, and the waitress walked away.

"What did you ask?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Crepes with a fruit filling with hard ice cream topped with pecans." Maiya smiled. "It is soooooo good." She leaned back and stretched.

"Well, I'm not so hungry anymore." Chloe said, standing up. "Thank you for the lunch."

"Anytime." Maiya said, smiling.

"Same time, tomorrow?" Kailani asked.

"Uh, actually..." Chloe said, scratching her back. "I have reservations at the spa with the Lisi Harrisons.

"Do you?" Maiya asked.

"Yeah, kind of." Chloe answered, blushing.

"Kind of?" Kailani asked, nodding "thank you" to the waitress as she placed the food on the table.

"Yeah." Chloe said, adverting her gaze from Kailani's dish to the menu along the back wall. _Today's special: crêpes aux fruits, fouettée crème et cerises._

_Dietary Favorites: matières grasses libre de glace, graham sans gluten pie, and soupe de haricot végétarien._

_ Alpha Menu: Breakfast-_

_crepes (au chocolat, aux fruits)_

_ cereal (granola, sans sucre)_

_ bagels (œuf, grains entiers, brut et poppyseed)_

_ Lunch-_

_ Pizza (pepperoni, plaine, saucisson)_

_ hamburgers (dinde, boeuf_

_ pâtes (ravioli, penne vodka, farfalle alfredo)_

"Hello? Earth to Chloe!" Maiya called, and Chloe snapped out of her daydream to look down at Maiya. They had finished their dishes and were getting up.

"Time for class." Maiya said, motioning toward the clock. It was two o'clock.

"Alright." Chloe said, pulling her gold Coach bag off the wooden seat and hurring out of the Cafe. Outside of the wooden reasaurant, the rest of the Pavilion was entirely made of glass.

"Kailani!" Two girls cheered. They were wearing the same outfits that Maiya, Kailani and Chloe were wearing.

"Chloe!"

Chloe jumped at the sound of her own name. Were people finally noticing her?

Half-expecting it was someone who wanted to know what the homework was, she smiled at the little girl no older than fourteen.

"Where are you going?" She asked, desperate to tag along, Chloe said somthing softy, so the girl wouldn't know.

"Where?" She called, but was swept away by the feeding frenzy of girls desperate to be in Maiya and Kailani's eyeline. Chloe pushed them away, and the three girls walked, like an army brigade, in one horizontal line of three, marching in unison to an unheard tune, headed outside.

"Chloe!"

"Maiya!"

"Kailani!"

Chlo loved hearing the sound of her own name. It was like girls were desperate for her attention for a change. She looked up in the sky, and one of Irina's signatute eagles was flying by, a little camera attached to it's tummy. It caught sight of the three girls, and swooped down a few feet to see what was going on. As the bird was fifteen, then then, then only five feet away, Chloe could almost hear Irina's gasp as she saw who was walkign with her daughters.

Chloe winked at the camera, and in return the crowd grew louder. The bird hovered back toward Irina's residence, as Maiya motioned for the girls to follow her to their next class, which had something to do with worldwide fashion.

"Maiya?" Chloe asked, as the girls entered the dress-shaped Fashion Hall. At the hem of the dress, automatic doors were painted the same pewter as the dress, with bright silver door handles. On the inside, catwalk lighting light the front where a receptionsit checked the girls in like a teacher would her students.

"Today please go to Canada." The receptionist said, checking their names and scedules off.

"To learn what? Leaf-embroidered sweaters?" Kailani asked, flipping her midinight-colored hair over her shoulder. "I'd like to go to India."

The recpetionist swallowed and nodded.

"And the same for my sister and friend." Kailani sniffed. The receptionist nodded again and Kailani smiled.

"Let's go." Kailani said.

"India?" Chloe asked as the girls boarded the lipstick-shaped elevator up to the fifth floor.

"Ch'yeah." Maiya said, touching up her makeup. Chloe looked around the elevator, which was black, circular, and housed only the three girls.

Once they reached the fifth floor, Maiya and Kailani burst out like Chloe had farted and the oxygen supply was low. Chloe stepped out of the elevator, and looked around. The only two people in their were Maiya and Kailani, and they were fawning over the latest colors of makeup for Indian girls (CoverGirl Oil Control in Tawny! Maybelline Crown Jewels Eyeshadow!) And the adorabe sari's hanging from the models. As Kailani tried on makeup and Maiya pulled a bright orange sari off a manniquin, Chloe realized how desperatlily dorky these girls seemed, I mean, asian girls trying on Indian makeup and clothing?

That was like Chloe trying on a slim Burberry sweater for men.


	14. That's bitter

Lisi Harrison House

Ivanna's Bed

Wednesday, September 8th

6:39 p.m.

"Hmm, this isn't good."

"Does it have to be amputated?"

Doctor Williams looked up at Ivanna with a confused look on her face.

"Of course not." Doctor Williams laughed.

Smiling nervously, Ivanna looked over at Chloe, Tammi and Roza, all who were all standing at her bedside, just as nervous as she was.

"You'll be fine." Doctor Williams smiled. "I patched it up with a butterfly stich, and you should be fine. Just keep off that toe for awhile."

"What?" Ivanna shrieked, grabbing the sides of her head in worry.

Doctor Williams nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Ivanna. I know how much dance means to you, but you have to stay off that toe until it heals properly."

Still gripping the sides of her head, Ivanna shook her head back and forth as she repeated, over and over: "Oh no. No, no, no. It's over. Dance is done."

Doctor Williams frowned. "Don't say that."

"But I-"

Doctor Williams shook her head, holding up her hand and stopping Ivanna from talking. "No. You will make a speedy recovery, belive me, even thought hatever you cut your toe on was rusty and slightly infected it. It will be hard to walk on as you recover, but you should heal in...a week or two?"

Ivanna's jaw dropped, and she heard Tammi gasp.

"What?" Ivanna shrieked again.

"Ivanna, as fire refines gold, so suffering refines virtue." Charla sighed from the doorway.

"What?" Ivanna asked, confused. "Did whoever say that give up on dance too?"

Charla shook her head.

"You will be back dancing before I come back to check on you." Doctor Williams smiled. "Trust me. I'm a doctor."

As Tammi and Chloe nervously laughed, Ivanna scoweled. Doctor Williams ignored her and scribbled a tiny note on her gold Post-it pad.

"Just do this everyday." She said, sticking it to the lampshade on Ivanna's nightstand.

As Doctor Williams and Charla left the room, Roza, Chloe and Tammi stayed behind, biting their lips nervously.

"Well?" Ivanna asked. "What does it say?"

Tammi shook her head. Ivanna took a deep breath and turned around to look at the note. Written in a dark, black ink, Doctor Williams had scribbled the simple words: "dance like Roza. :(" like even she didn't want to look at it.

"What?" Ivanna shrieked for the third time. Tammi made an excrusiatingly painful looking face while Roza snickered and Chloe sighed.

"I think she's right." Roza smiled.

"Shut up!" Ivanna snapped, throwing her pillow at Roza. She missed and it whacked Chloe in the face.

"Watch it!" Chloe shouted, throwing the pillow back at Ivanna.

Ivanna took a deep breath, then put the pillow behind her. "I know it was you, Roza."

Roza gasped and put her thin, pale hand on her collarbone, like she was shocked. "Me? Really?" She covered her mouth with her hands, then smiled. "Aren't you sneaky."

"No. You're sneaky!" Ivanna cried. "You knew exactly how to do this!"

Tammi and Chloe looked back and forth from Roza to Ivanna, confused.

"You don't understand." Roza said, shaking her head back and forth. "I'm not a dancer."

"Well? Why did I have to get hurt?"

Roza sighed. "With you out of the way, I could become Lula's favorite. And then-"

"Roza!" Tammi screeched. "Have you been reading Lisi Harrison lately?"

Roza cocked her head in true confusion. "No?"

Tammi ground her teeth together. "Then stop being such a Triple Threat! A bitch, and low-liner, and a desperate dork!" Tammi rose her hand and brought it onto Roza's face- _hard_.

"Ow!" Roza screamed, her hands reaching out for Tammi's neck. Ivanna watched in horror as Roza's thin, pale hands wrapped around Tammi's swanlike neck. Roza's opal cocktail ring glinted in the light from the windows in the ceiling. Screaming, Chloe lunged forward, knocking Roza and Tammi into the nightstand next to Renee's bed.

"Ohmygund." Tammi gasped as she reached up into the air. "Help!"

Ivanna cringled as she heard Chloe smack Roza repeatedly on the face. The single-noted _slap-slap-slap_ made Ivanna want to cry, but she held it back.

"Guys, Charla might hear!" Ivanna cried. "And then you'll be expelled!"

"Screw her!" Chloe snapped at Ivanna. Ivanna scowled at Chloe, then slumped against her headboard. Maybe if Renee was there, she could beat the crap out of them or something that she would do, if Roza wasn't dead yet.

"What are you guys doing?"

_Speak of the devil._ Ivanna thought, leaning forward. Renee was standing in the doorway, her patterned Isadora Duncan scarf flittering slightly in the wind from the doorway.

"Beating up Roza for being such a bitch!" Chloe screamed. Renee made a scowling face at Ivanna's exposed bloody toes, the turned away.

_Oh, pity the lowly._ Ivanna thought bitterly. _Pity me, oh pity me._

"Let me help you." Renee said through her teeth. "Charla was with the doc."

Smiling like a lion, Renee untied the scarf around her neck and headed over to Roza. Chloe let go of the death grip she had on her, and in return, Renee let go of her hold on Tammi's neck. Tammi fell to the ground, panting, as Chloe walked over and dragged her onto her bed.

"What are you-" Roza started, but before she could finish, Renee had wrapped her scarf around Roza's neck like she was going to hang her. Pulling it upward, Ivanna watched in horror as the meek girl she and the other had mocked just two days earlier pulled Roza off of her feet, lifting her a few inches off the ground, while lifting her chin up.

"Stop!" Roza screeched. Renee shook her head slowly, with a mocking grin on her face. She worked quickly, wrapping the scarf around one of the tulip-bulb shaped lightbulbs inside of Roza's closet, keeping the scarf tied tightly around her neck.

"Stop!" Ivanna heard herself whisper softly. So soft, that no one else heard.

She looked over at Tammi and Chloe, who too were watching in horror as Renee helped Roza up onto a tipped-over shoe rack. She wrapped the scarf around the lightbulb twice before hanging Roza there.

"Stop!" Ivanna screamed. Seconds later, she regretted it as Charla darted up the stairs, stopping in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" Charla asked. "Is it your toe?"

Ivanna quickly nodded, shooting a look out of the corner of her eye into Roza's closet.

"What's going on-" Charla started, as she looked into the closet. She let out the highest-pitched scream Ivanna had ever heard.

"Oh. My. God!" Charla screamed, running out of the room. Ivanna watched as Renee shrugged and kicked the shoe rack out from underneath Roza. Roza remained there for several seconds before crashing to the ground.

_Note to self: Isadora Duncan scarfs don't make good ropes. _Ivanna thought, letting out a nervous chuckle. She leaned forward and looked into Roza's closet. Renee was slowly closing the door and hurrying out of the house. Tammi and Chloe followed her, and Ivanna picked her crutches up from the side of her bed as she followed them.

Renee didn't make it very far: she catwalked down the stairs and through the living room, and had just opened the door as Ivanna walked out of the room, watching as three of Irina's top guards wrapped the platnium handcuffs around Renee's tan hands. Scowling, Renee looked at Charla, who was standing, very prim and proper, underneath the three girls in he breakfast nook.

"Renee Cawrlford, you are hearby expelled from Alpha Academy for the possible murder of your bunk-mate." One of the officers said in his gruffy voice. He looked up at the girls expectantly.

"You are all asked to see Ms. Kay-Sau in her office immeaditly." He said, and Tammi and Chloe helped Ivanna down the stairs to follow them.

Later on, as Renee had been ushered away with Charla to her awaiting PAP, Ivanna, Chloe, and Tammi sat in Irina's office. Irina was holding her head, crying softly as she muttered incomprehesible curses to herself.

"I can't belive this." She said. "Not one fault, but two!"

"Indeed." Charla said as she entered the closed-off, private office.

"She was a designer for a tacky children's brand with no sense of style, and almost killed her roomate!"

"Speaking of which," Ivanna piped up. "Where is Roza?"

"In the Infirmary, recovering." Charla answered very briskly. "She should make a full recovery in a matter of weeks, but not before you do, Ivanna." Charla smirked, like they kept a secret.

"Isn't that a good thing..." Irina muttered to herself as she spun around to look out her wall-length window. The sky outside was a dark navy, like night, and huge thunderclouds sat in the air, hovering around the island. Occasional lighting bolts and thunderclaps let out every time Irina sighed or started to cry.  
The six sat in awkwars silence as Irina continued to cry.

"I am very disappointed..." She began, then gave up and started crying again.

"Oh, what's the use of lecturing three innocent girls?" Irina asked rhetorically. Tammi, Chloe and Ivanna exchanged knowing glances at each other as Irina stopped crying to think.

"Wait, that is, you are innocent, correct?" She asked them. The three girls use their immense willpower to look at the mongul straight into her eyes, which were puffy and red from crying. Her face has mascara stains on them, and the rest of her makeup was smudged, showing her baggy eyes and blotchy forehead.

"Irina, everything will be okay." Chloe reassured her. Ivanna and Tammi held their breath as they awaited her response.

Irina's hard, crying face softened into a weak smile. "Thank you." She replied softly. Getting up from her chair, the three girls sat erect, hoping that maybe Irina would spare them and let them go.

"You are hearby dismissed on a warning." Irina sighed. "Keep up the good work, you three."

Breathing sighs of relief, Chloe and Tammi burst out of the room, Ivanna hobbling behind on her crutches. Famished, they darted off for somewhere to stop and eat, and as they sat down, Ivanna heard the worried cries of her bunk-mate as she had been hung.

_Stop it! Stop! _Ivanna had cried, over and over as Roza was beaten.

And for once, Ivanna was glad that she had cried.


	15. Thanks for the Memories

The Pavilion

Forever 14

Thursday, September 9th

1:42 p.m.

Ivanna, Tammi, and Chloe sat on the long wooden bench that ran along the side walls of Irina's teen version of Forever 21. The manniquins in the storefront boasted some of the newer designs added to their wardrobe, while the large platinum racks in the store held some more modern, off-the-runway couture that Irina still allowed. Tammi reached out to pull a plum-colored bell-sleeved minidress off the rack, but Ivanna held her back.

Scowling, Tammi sat back and huffed as one of the Beyonce's from the house next door hurried up to them, her facial expression a mix of worry and happiness.

"Ohmygund, guys I heard about Renee." She said. "Sooooo loser-ish."

"I know, right?" Tammi told her. "Now, shoo."

The girl's face fell. "I thought you were nicer than that, Tamara."

Tammi's face darkened as she snapped up to look at the girl, right into her raisin-colored eyes. "My name. Is not. TAMARA!" Tammi screeched. "It's Tammi!"

"Sorry." The girl whined. "My bad."

"Yeah, your bad." Ivanna sniffed. The girl turned around and stomped away.

"This is boring. I'm hungry." Chloe sighed. "Let's go get something to eat."

Getting up, Tammi reached out to help Ivanna get onto her crutches. She pulled down on the sleeves of her purple-and-silver sweatshirt and pulled up her Lucky-Brand bootcut jeans off of her tan Uggs. Shivering, Tammi hurried after the girls as Chloe lead them toward the glassed-in Health Food Court.

"Uh, could we have like, a huge bowl of Epinard-salade?" Ivanna asked the lady behind the gold counter. She nodded quickly, and hurried into the silver fridge-looking room to bring the salad out.

"I'm gonna grab a protein bar and head for the gym..." Tammi told the two. "I missed my class yesterday because of...stuff..."

Chloe and Ivanna nodded, and Tammi turned around and darted out of the room.

_I'm such a horrible liar._ Tammi thought to herself, as she rean out of the Pavilion. Truth was, she was actually headed for Irina's office. She couldn't keep the guilt inside of her for much longer. It was killing her.

_I'll just tell her that Roza was hurting me, and she saw it coming. _Tammi thought. _I'll tell her i slapped her. Everything will be okay. Chloe and Ivanna will get to stay and I'll just...you know, leave._

As Tammi hurried toward the heavily-gated island that was Irina's residence, she realized that this was a big mistake. What could she have possibly done so wrong? Maybe if she ignored her nagging consince, it would go away in good time, like Ivanna's bad desicion had sunken into the rescesses of her mind.

_That's it! _Tammi thought. _Roza! _

Turning back around, Tammi darted for the huge Band-Aid shaped Infirmary hidden behind tall sequias along the side of the island across from the Pavilion. The huge, nine-foot automatic doors slid open as Tammi ran toward them. As she hurried past the Ace-bandage shaped front desk, Tammi headed right for the elevator in the back, near the surgery ward.

Pressing "6" with haste, Tammi clutched the bar along the back wall as the elevator curled upward. When it stopped on the sixth floor, Tammi darted down the hallway, stopping at the door that lead into Roza's room. Throwing the door open without even bothering to knock, Tammi felt the rush of adreline that she only got when she was on set.

"Why?" She screamed. "Why did you do it?"

Roza sat upward. "Do what?"

"Everything! I know what you did!" Actually, Tammi didn't know what Roza did, she only had a faint idea that she had ratted out Renee to Renita the first night, had intentionally hurt Ivanna to get into the spotlight, and she had rigged her scedule so that it was the perfect blend of classes that Renita was looking for. Okay, maybe the last one was just conjecture, but it was an idea.

"What did I do?" Roza asked again.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Tammi shrieked. She was sick of all of Roza's games, sick of how she preteneded that she didn't do something, but she really did. It was called being a bitch.

"Listen, chickie, I don't even know who you are." Roza started.

"Oh. My. God! Do you really think that I'm going to belive that?" Tammi cried out, exasperated.

Roza nodded. Just then, Roza's face didn't look like she was kidding.

"Wait, what you're saying is, that you have...amnesia?" Tammi asked her. Roza nodded slowly.

"Something like that. I get occasional blackouts and forget who I am. But I do know where I am, and I remember everything from my classes. Everyday the doctor tells me that my brain is 'fixing itself,' but I don't know. Are you Tammi?" She rambled. Tammi nodded.

"Okay. All I can remember about you is from what the doctor has shown me. She shows my videos of you, and my hand curls up in a fist, like this-" Roza's hand made a curling motion, like she ahd when she had strangled Tammi, "- and she showed me videos of this tan girl that dances, and I feel this nauseating wave of guilt." Roza sighed. "Why?"

"Well, you strangled me." Tammi started. "And you hurt Ivanna."

"Why? And, how?" Roza asked.

"I slapped you, and you were jelous of Ivanna." Tammi explained.

"Why?"

Tammi sighed. "I slapped you because you hurt Ivanna." Tammi told her.

"Oh. Tell Ivanna I'm sorry." Roza said with a smile.

"Wow, you really are sick." Tammi told Roza. Roza laughed, her voice eerie and awkward.

"I'm gonna go now..." Tammi started, heading out the door.

"Don't! Tell me more!" Roza shouted. "Tell my about Renee!"

"Renee?" Tammi asked her. "You know who Renee is?"

Roza's face went paler than usual. "Ohmygod." Her face twisted up in the usual fury that Tammi had remembered. "I remember it all now."

"Great..." Tammi sighed.

"Tell Ivanna that I'm not sorry. Tell her to burn in hell for figuring out what I did wrong. I was perfectly fine until shehad to open her big fat mouth, and now look at where I am." Roza screamed. "I'm in a freakin' hospital!"

Tammi reached out behind her for the doorknob. "Feel better." She scoffed as she turned around and ran.

She had awakened a monster from it's sleep. What had she done?


	16. Let's get this over with

The Lisi Harrison House

The Bathroom

Thursday, September 9th

6:05 p.m.

Ivanna and Tammi sat on the sink counters in the bathroom, thinking to themselves.

"I can't belive it!" Ivanna shrieked. "Roza forgot about everything!"

"Until I told her." Tammi reminded her. "And now she's mad as hell."

"Oh, my god." Ivanna said. "We're screwed."

"You could say that again."

Ivanna hopped off of the sink, grabbed her crutches, and began twirl-pacing around the bathroom.

"Hurt her, again! Then she'll forget!"

"Too risky."

"We could tell her that's all a lie!"

"You really think that she'd belive us?"

Ivanna stopped pacing to look at Tammi.

"Okay, Ms. Soap Opera, you tell me what we should do!"

Tammi was about to say that she didn't know, but then she had an idea.

"Ivanna, that's it! You're a genius!"

Ivanna stopped again. "I am?"

"Yes!" Tammi squealed. "I know exactly what we should do!"

"What?" Chloe asked, walking in with her aPod's music blasting.

"Turn that down!" Ivanna screamed. "What?"

Tammi began to hop up and down like the Energizer Bunny as she spoke. "Okay, so in Episode 26: To Kill a Mocking-girl, Petra was in a coma for like, a year, but when she woke up, she couldn't remember a thing! So Izzy tried to mislead her, but Petra remembered everything. So Izzy got two people Petra _didn't _remember, and had them tell her all of this nonsense that Petra didn't even know never happened, and said it while they told her about things she already knew!"

"So what you're saying," Chloe started, "is that we take Kailani and Maiya, and get them to tell her all about thigns that never happened?"

"Exactly!" Tammi said. "It's genius!"

"But, how are we going to get Kailani and Maiya here? I mean, they don't know us." Ivanna sighed.

"Yeah, but they know me." Chloe told them.

"But, you ditched them, to see me." Ivanna told her, biting her bottom lip in worry. She began to twirl-pace on her crutches again, this time twirling on her good foot everytime she reached a gold-plated tile in the floor.

"They could care less." Chloe sighed. "They're desperate for attention, those two. Kailani is a stuck-up snob with a bad attitude, and Maiya is a demon child disguised in a child genius' body." Tammi let out a nervous giggle.

"Do we care? Not really. Text them- _now_." Tammi ordered, her voice serious.

"Alright, alright." Chloe said. "Tell Roza we're coming to see her- all of us."

As Tammi, Chloe and Ivanna arrived at the Infirmary, Kailani and Maiya were seated on the stone benches out front, Maiya gabbing into her aPod with one of her friends as Kailani fiddled with her fingers.

"Hey guys." Chloe sighed as they neared. Maiya hung up on her phone, and Kailani froze, not looking up.

"Hello,Chloe." Maiya said in a taunting voice. She smiled. "You left us on such a short notice yesterday. Somewhere important?"

Ivanna turned around to read Chloe's facial expression. Clearly Chloe wasn't at all frazzled by Maiya's high-pitched salmon eyeshadow and deep mascara.

"Ivanna's toe." Chloe said bluntly.

"Ah, yes. And Renee, as well?" Maiya asked. The three girls were silent.

"Well?" Kailani asked.

"Ye-yes." Chloe stuttered.

"Where is she?" Maiya asked.

"Not...here." Chloe said.

"She's at her Yoga class." Ivanna lied. Tammi let out a sigh of relief as Maiya and Kailani bought it.

"Let's hurry up already." Maiya sighed, standing up. "I have Dav on the phone."

"He called back?" Chloe asked. Maiya nodded, then opened her pink-pear lips and began droning on in her babyish voice about someone she had met on her last trip to Thailand.

"Okay guys, get in the elevator!" Tammi told them as she held the door open. Oblivious, Maiya kept taking her good sweet time over to the door. She stepped inside, still talking, then stopped when she realized that Tammi had shut down the elevator.

"What's going on?" she screamed. "I am a millionaire heiress!"

"No, I am!" Kailani screamed. "You get nothing!"

"I'm more sucessful!"

"I'm a multi-million dollar designer!"

"Shut up!" Ivanna screamed.

"Okay, listen." Chloe told them once they had shut up. "We're going to see Roza. She doesn't remember you guys, so just tell her nonsense like, 'Ivanna is a way better dancer than you,' 'we're your bestfriends,' 'Tammi has an amazing sense of style and always has.' Stuff like that, mmkay?"

Maiya and Kailani nodded slowly.

"Once she's fallen for it, tell her some stuff that's true, like 'Tammi is an actress in a soap opera.' 'Ivanna went to Juillard,' things like that." Chloe continued. "Add some real stuff into the fake things so it's easier to belive."

"who's idea was this, anyway?" Kailani asked. "It wasn't really well thought through."

"I did, and it's a try." Tammi told them, slightly embarassed. Maiya shrugged.

"Let's get this over with." She sighed, pressing the "6" button on the elevator. It shrugged upward like the one in the You-knitted Nations. Once it hit the sixth floor, the doors slid open like they were on greased tracks. Maiya and Kailani stepped out in front, with Chloe, Ivanna, and Tammi behind them. They shrugged together in one long row, the length of the hallway, and strutted down the hall like they owned it- which, in Maiya and Kailani's case, they did.

"Here's Roza's room." Tammi whispered once she reached the same room she had visited earlier that day. She carefully twister the silver doorknob down to the right, and slowly and quietly opened it.

"Hey, Roz." Tammi said softly. Roza was sitting upright in her bed, a green tray of untouched food on her lap. On the television was a recent episode of _Born Dead. _Tammi's heart skipped a beat when she saw herself, screaming as she dove off of a rooftop in Chicago.

"That's you!" Roza said happily.

"Hey, we brough some of your best friends." Tammi said happily. Maiya and Kailani hurried in quietly.

"Hey Roza, how are you?" Maiya asked, her voice sweet and innocent.

Roza smirked. "Hey, Maiya. How are you?"


End file.
